May 12, 2006 

 

 

 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2006 WRAPUP

NATIONAL ACTION

 FLORIDA 2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WRAPUP

Florida’s Windfall Yields Only a Little More for Unmet Health Care Needs

 

The 2006 Florida legislature came to a close with good and bad news for health care advocates and low-income consumers. Florida’s unprecedented $7 billion state surplus was allocated to provide security against future state economic downturns, natural disasters or public health epidemics, but too little was directed toward the millions of Floridians desperately in need of basic health and human services to stay healthy and productive. In addition to bolstering the reserve funds, the legislature gave away an additional $350 million in tax cuts.

 

There were some victories, but much in many cases these only partially alleviated programs’ shortfalls in meeting state needs. Legislators should understand that in order to provide the state with a more productive and independent populace yielding greater returns as well as savings in unneeded services in the future, we need to invest in their health – especially in a time of such abundance.

 

Florida CHAIN is extremely grateful for the efforts of our dedicated health care advocates who accomplished a great deal in what continued to be a tough climate despite the surplus. We are also particularly proud of the important groundwork that was laid for next year’s work.

 

Some winners and losers are described below. CHAIN Reaction will share additional information about the legislative session as it becomes available and understood.

 

State to Help Florida’s Most Vulnerable Left without Meds in Part D Transition

 

$3.7 million was allocated to establish a pharmaceutical assistance program to assist organ transplant recipients, people in renal failure, and cancer patients who were previously covered under the Medically Needy program. These funds will be used to fill the gap created by a "glitch" in the Medicare Modernization Act, in which their life-sustaining medications were not moved into Part D. These very ill people continued to be covered under Part B and as a result have been required to pay a 20% co-pay for these very expensive medications, an amount they could not afford. Many have been tragically going without health and life-sustaining prescription drugs and treatments.

 

Now, the state intends to pick up the 20% co-pays. Additional funds will be needed, but this is a good beginning. Ultimately, the federal government must correct its life-threatening error for low-income, very ill beneficiaries in Florida and throughout the U.S. Congress has been very slow to move bills that would help.

 

Medicaid Vision, Hearing, Partial Dentures Restored

 

One key victory for Floridians under 88% of the federal poverty level is the restoration of adult Medicaid vision, hearing, and partial denture services.  (In recent years, Medicaid recipients needing partial dentures are only covered to have all their teeth pulled and get a full set.) This is a major step forward to maintaining good health for these very low-income adult beneficiaries. After three years of persistent legislative advocacy, at last we prevailed.

Healthy Start Receives First Substantial Increase Since 1992

Healthy Start Coalitions, which provide care to low-income at-risk pregnant women, will receive an $11 million total increase, including $6.5 million from the state and $4.5 million from federal Medicaid matching dollars. While Florida births dramatically increased and the cost of living rose, Healthy Start had not received significant increased funding for over a decade. The percentage of at-risk eligible women served declined from half to just over a fourth. This increase provides a good start and will serve an additional 20,000 women. Increased funding to serve 28,000 had been requested.

KidCare Sustains $168 Million Reduction


KidCare sustained a $168 million reduction from the current year’s allocation, only $22 million more than Gov. Bush’s budget recommended.  However, the Legislature's top two health care budget writers, Rep. Aaron Bean and Sen. Burt Saunders, pledged at a news conference that if their budget doesn't cover all the families who sign up and are eligible for the state's subsidized KidCare health insurance program, more money would be found. The state’s allocation forgoes considerable federal dollars that could be drawn down.

 

The allocation is intended to allow the program to enroll 38,000 more children than are currently covered; however, many times this number of uninsured children are eligible throughout Florida. A record 42,374 families applied for the program last month.

 

Additionally, children ages 1-4 with family incomes greater than 200% of federal poverty level will now be able to participate in the full pay KidCare program known as MediKids (these children have been excluded in the past).

 

KidCare benefits were not restored for children of legal immigrants and state workers; the legislature failed to earmark $15 million to reinstate this coverage. $2 million was directed from reserves for legal immigrant children who do not qualify for federal matching funds.

 

The legislature also failed to pass reforms that would have made KidCare an easier system for low-income persons maintain their enrollment when their income increases. 

 

Much groundwork was laid for future advocacy; the awareness and understanding of the program complexity has never been so apparent or well understood.  

 

Additional Good News

 

-Multiple attempts to expand the Medicaid Reform experiment failed.
-Additional pesticide inspectors were added to the Department of Agriculture.
-Additional dollars were provided for nursing home staffing increases.

 

 

Additional Bad News

 

The bill to establish a statewide comprehensive educational program on lead poisoning prevention and screening program for people at risk died in committee.

 
NATIONAL ACTION
May 15 is the Medicare Part D Enrollment Deadline - TAKE ACTION!

May 15, 2006 is the last day to join a plan offering coverage for 2006, and to enroll without a penalty. Two important steps for advocates: 

  • URGE Medicare beneficiaries to seek help and make decisions on plans NOW
  • URGE the US HHS Secretary to EXTEND THE DEADLINE.

For Info and Advice on Enrolling in Part D:

 

  Medicare Rx Access Network of Florida:

      About the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit
      Background
      Key Points
      Significant Dates
      Fast Facts
      Glossary of Useful Terms
  Medicare

 

Don’t Let People with Medicare Get Frozen In or Out of Drug Coverage

 

Click here to tell President Bush not to lock people into their plan on May 15; and to your U.S. Representative to keep Medicare Part D enrollment open past the May 15 deadline.

 

US Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt MUST use his legal authority to allow people with Medicare to enroll in the Part D drug benefit after the May 15 deadline. Although he just announced that the administration is "well on its way" to meeting its goal of having 28 to 30 million Part D enrollees in first year of the new drug benefit, "there are two things wrong with that statement," according to the Medicare Rights Center (MRC), the largest independent source of Medicare information and assistance in the US.

There are 43 million Medicare beneficiaries. MRC asks, "what kind of administration sets a goal that leaves 13 to 15 million people with Medicare without drug coverage and does nothing to prevent them from being frozen out of Part D coverage until next year?" And, "After May 15, anyone who has not signed up for a Part D plan is barred from receiving coverage until 2007 and is hit with a lifetime late enrollment penalty."

In addition, MRC reports that 10 million of the 27 million people the administration claims have Medicare drug coverage are actually covered through a former employer. Only 7.2 million people have voluntarily signed up for drug coverage. The remainder were transferred into Part D plans from Medicaid or their Medicare Advantage HMO. 

Click here to tell President Bush not to lock people into their plan on May 15; and to your U.S. Representative to keep Medicare Part D enrollment open past the May 15 deadline.

No Federal Budget is Far Better than Cutting Vital Services

The U.S. House of Representatives is now figuring out if they have the votes to pass a budget...  or if they throw in the towel.   Your call can help those towels fly. 

TAKE ACTION NOW!
Call your U.S. Rep  toll-free at 800/459-1887, ask to be connected to your U.S. Rep, and say, "Please oppose a budget deal that forces cuts in health care, education, nutrition, child care, and many other services.  Cutting services to pay for tax giveaways to millionaires hurts our nation."

Background:
The House leadership has proposed a budget that will require cuts in domestic services (education, health, housing, etc.); the Senate already passed a budget that does not require such cuts.  According to press accounts, some moderate House members are holding firm for more funds for health and education programs.  Please help them stay firm!

If there is no House budget resolution: 1) Congress will still work on all the annual spending bills, and we will continue working for adequate funding or preventing cuts in human needs services; 2) Congress cannot pass more fast-track tax cuts or entitlement cuts (like Medicaid or Food Stamps) that need only simple majorities in the Senate; 3) It demonstrates the lack of support in Congress for harmful cuts in human needs programs.

Many Representatives in the majority have already admitted that this budget is draconian.  It sacrifices America's most important priorities to give tax breaks to the rich.  Thanks to Coalition for Human Needs for the basis for this alert. For a review of the House budget resolution and the reasons it would hurt people in need, see the Coalition's recent Human Needs Report budget article.   

Dangerous Insurance Deregulation Bill Stopped Cold! 

On May 11, the Senate effectively ended consideration of the mislabeled “Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA)” (S 1955) for this year, by rejecting a motion to limit debate. The cloture vote required the support of 60 senators to pass. This defeat is a critical victory against this under-the-radar sweeping restructure of our insurance system. The bill would have created a federal ceiling to undermine consumer protections in nearly every state, establishing an alarmingly low federal benefits standard. By allowing insurers to offer “bare-bones” plans to serve healthy individuals, it invited dramatic cost increases for plans needed by those with greater healthcare needs. It would have gutted vital health care protections for 85 million Americans across the US.

  

TAKE ACTION NOW!

Thank Sen. Nelson for supporting consumer protections for health care by voting against cloture on S 1955.

Send Sen. Martinez your message of disappointment for his vote for this dangerous legislation.

 

 Citizens' Health Care Working Group Survey Now Online!
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MAY 15!
For the first time, the federal government is asking all of us what we think is important for health care to work for everyone in the US. Congress has established the Citizens' Health Care Working Group to direct the dialogue, which is now underway through community meetings, virtual town hall meetings, and internet polls, blogs and forums. The Working Group will issue recommendations to Congress and the White House in 2007. If you were/are not able to attend a local Working Group gathering, here is your opportunity to participate in this important effort! 

During May 1-7, thousands of activities took place across the United States to tell Congress that health coverage for Americans must be their top priority. Many events were held throughout Florida. In addition, numerous studies were released showing the increases in numbers of uninsured including among those of middle income, the failures of the current system, the impact of being uninsured on well-being, and more. For synopses and links, go to the New Report Listings on Health Insurance on CHAIN Reaction’s Resources and in the Health Insurance section in Articles, both below.

 

Florida CHAIN thanks the many advocates who have taken the time to respond to our recent Get Active alerts. Your messages do make difference. Look for increased reporting on state legislation and weekly calls to action during the Florida session. 

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CHAIN Days Brings Voice of Consumers to Legislators

 

 April 18, 2006

 

It was a disparate group of consumers, advocates and organizers that arrived in Tallahassee on the evening of Monday, April 3 for the annual CHAIN Days. Most by bus from southern Florida, some by car from other parts of the state, and all with one purpose: impress upon legislators the need to safeguard and appropriately fund programs that serve the low and middle income working individuals and families of Florida, as well as the most vulnerable among us: children, elderly and disabled.

 

Particular care was given to making sure the activity was carried out in bi-lingual fashion, with consecutive interpretation being offered throughout for the benefit of the many in the group who were Spanish-speaking.  Participants included CHAIN Days veterans as well as first timers to the Capitol who, over two days, met with key legislators on both sides of the aisle working on issues ranging from KidCare and Medicaid Reform to Immigration and Affordable Housing.  

 

Wearing the distinctive yellow CHAIN t-shirts and armed with fact-sheets and a strong sense of civic duty, participants broke into smaller groups to make the most of every available opportunity to voice their concerns and offer solutions to legislators and their aides. 

 

CHAIN Days culminated in a highly visible bi-partisan press conference convened by State Senators Nan Rich and Durell Peaden. The press event focused on the need to properly fund the KidCare program, especially its outreach component, to reverse the drop in participation inconsistent with the continually high numbers of qualifying uninsured Florida children.

 

Particular thanks in helping convene CHAIN Days 2006participants go to Human Services Coalition, Hispanic Unity of Florida, Palm Beach County Community Health Alliance, Pierson Medical Center, Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition and MSKeteers, among others.

 

To view more photos of CHAIN Days 2006, click here.

 

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REAL STORIES 

April 18, 2006 

To share your own story, click here. 

 

PREFACE:

 

This project was sponsored by Florida CHAIN. The interviews were conducted by volunteer Kenan Heise, a retired newspaper reporter.

 

These interviews emphasizes the need for changes in the Medicaid program; however, it is imperative these changes be thought out and implemented strategically. Because the potential negative implications have not fully been considered, better safeguards need to be put in place to prevent a catastrophic health crisis.  If the situation becomes as bad as some foresee, the cost to the government may be much more in the end than the potential savings sought.      

Ron Zeigler, who is disabled, lives in Hollywood. Florida. He writes letters in attempt to make things better for those with disabilities.

      

       I am 40 years old and bipolar, in other words, manic-depressive.

       I cannot have a job and still keep getting the medicine from Medicaid that helps me deal with my depression.

       Even though I have a disability, I want to have the right to live and to have a normal life without being hassled about my checks. I want to do something constructive with my life and not simply be cooped up in my apartment.

       When I was in school, I got along with the teachers, but not my peers. Because I had a disability, they picked on me. The school sent me to an adolescent learning center for kids who are dysfunctional.

       In my group at the center, there were 36 of us but still we became close. Today, only six of them are still alive. The rest passed away—some from drugs, others in prison and a couple from AIDS.

       Over the years, I had a couple of jobs doing janitorial work for Burger King and McDonald’s. I had to quit when they wouldn’t let people work and collect medical disability benefits at the same time.

       When I get upset, I write letters. I have written to every president since Ronald Reagan.

       Three months ago, my friend Marvin Shapiro passed away. We both had talked just before he died about how depressed he was because he was having so much trouble getting his medicine from Medicaid. He said he was going through hell. Then he overdosed and the autopsy found street drugs in his body.

       I was really upset. I wrote Governor Jeb Bush, sent him my Prozac and told him where he could put it. I almost got in real trouble for doing that. They don’t like you writing letters like that. My case manager and my mother both pleaded with them and told them I was upset because my friend had passed away. She made me promise not to write any more negative letters.

       If Governor Bush just cared a little more, people who need help would get a little more.

       I am on Medicaid as well as Medicare Part A and Part B. Medicaid pays for my medicines under a program called “behavior Medicaid.” They are switching that over to Medicare and I will have to pay a significant part of it or rather my parents will have to and they are retired and trying to get by on Social Security. It’s gong to hurt them.

       Medicaid in Florida has already cut off hearing aids and eye care, except for the tests. Dental care is almost gone. A lot of things have been cut and by January of next year even more will be.

       If I could talk to Governor Bush, there are five things I would ask of him

1. Come and visit the homeless of Broward County, especially in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

2. Visit the poor sections of Broward County and explain to the people why he cut their benefits.

3. Come walk through the mental health hospitals and see the people who are sick there.

4. Talk to persons who have mental health problems and learn from them that they want to live a normal life and not worry about their checks being cut.

5. Let me marry my girlfriend and still keep my benefits.

 

       Bush is the governor and he’s supposed to understand.

       My girlfriend and I can’t even move in together or we would both lose benefits. The religious people are overbearing with me, saying we are living in sin.

       When I was little, I was adopted by a wonderful couple. They really tried to help me. I recently used the Internet to locate my birth mother and I found out she is bipolar too. I was born to her when she was only 14 years old. She had to give me up. We have stayed in touch. Sometimes she sends me CDs.

       I consider myself really fortunate. My adopted mother and father have always loved me and they saved me from being homeless or having to live in a group home. Because of them, I have been able to live independently for the last 15 years. They help me get my medicines but they cannot do it a whole lot because now they are both retired.

       I go to meetings with Peoples First. It is a group for those of us with disabilities. They motivate you to think positively and go out and do things.

       A friend of mine just had a heart bypass operation and my girlfriend and I visited him in the hospital. We also helped him get settled back at home. His parents said it was wonderful that we were such good friends to him.

       I watch a lot of movies on television and I write letters. I try to make them positive.

       Having disabilities is hard on people. I have another friend and he is homeless. He comes here once a week to get cleaned up and to shave.

       Things were better when Clinton was president. You could work and still collect medical disability. But, if I went back to work today, they would make me pay for my medicines.

       There is an old stigma about people with disabilities. It is that we don’t want to work and that we are not smart.

       All we want is to live normal lives.

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 RECENT HEALTH ARTICLES

  May 12, 2006 

    KidCare 

    Other Florida Health Issues

    Medicare and Medicaid

            Medicare Drug Coverage, Drug Costs

            Other Medicare, Medicaid

     Health Insurance and Costs

     Other Health Issues

 

KidCare 

 

KidCare: Funding should not be reduced
There are 500,000 uninsured children in Florida; 21,000 live in Duval County. Nearly 75 percent of these children live in families with working parents.  Now, despite billions of dollars of surplus tax revenues, our state Senate and House are planning to cut funding from the KidCare health insurance program, which could provide coverage to 100,000 additional uninsured children.  (5/3/06, Florida Times-Union)

 

Lawmakers predict enough money for all eligible for KidCare

The Legislature's top two health care budget writers pledged Tuesday that if their budget doesn't cover all the families who sign up and are eligible for the state's subsidized KidCare health insurance program, more money would be found. (5/2/06, Bradenton Herald)

 

House, Senate Ease KidCare Cut

House and Senate budget leaders settled Monday on a roughly $363 million budget for KidCare, the state's health insurance program for low-income children. But the debate continues, they said, on whether to reopen the program to children of state employees and legal immigrants who don't qualify for federal funding. (4/25/06, Tampa Tribune)

 

OPINION: Careless about KidCare 

Legislators shortsighted on insurance program -- again. Two years ago, Florida lawmakers seriously damaged the state's subsidized health-insurance program for needy children by drastically reducing the enrollment period and requiring an extra round of paperwork to prove eligibility.  Those mistakes were undone last year, but the Legislature's bumbling continues. (4/19/06, Sarasota Herald Tribune)

 

Bill to expand KidCare program falters

Legislators gutted a bill Monday that would have granted state-sponsored health insurance to about 10,000 children of legal immigrants, possibly signaling the end of the proposal for this year. The program would have cost the state about $15 million, which Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples, called a bargain to care for a large group of currently uninsured children. But House leadership opposed the move, despite a recent addition of $960 million to the state's income, explaining that there were other priorities for Floridians. (4/18/06, Palm Beach Post) 

House Panel Guts KidCare Proposal

A House panel snubbed thousands of low-income immigrant families Monday, gutting a proposal that would have allowed them to enroll their children in a state health insurance program. Meanwhile, the struggle continues over $6 million that advocates want for finding and enrolling more children in the program. The need is greater than ever, they say, as thousands of children may be falling through the cracks. (4/18/06, Tampa Tribune)

 

KidCare Program Deserves More Support

At a time when Florida is flush with money, it's tough to see a program that provides affordable health insurance to low-income children go begging for resources. But that's what's happening with KidCare and it makes no sense. (4/16/06, Tampa Tribune)

Immigrants Unlikely To Gain KidCare Access
Catalina Morales went to the Capitol this week hoping to see lawmakers open the doors to health care for her daughter and grandson. Instead, Morales watched as a legislative committee postponed the discussion. A former farmworker from Dade City who now works for the Farmworker Self-Help outreach and advocacy group, Morales arrived from Mexico in 1995 and is a legal immigrant. She had hoped, she said, that her children would have at least some health care benefits in the United States. But they remain among the estimated 520,000 uninsured children in Florida. They also number among the thousands who do not qualify for KidCare, the state's subsidized health insurance program for low-income children, because they are immigrants. (4/14/06, Tampa Tribune)

 

 

Other Florida Health Issues 

 

Health care funds go to research, not poor

The two issues that dominated the health care debate in the capitol this year took place at polar opposites. At one end, lawmakers spoke with promise and wonder about research that could one day cure the worst diseases. And they backed up the talk by spending millions aimed at curing cancer and other big killers. At the other end, they wrestled over how to take care of the most basic health needs: Whether to pay for eyeglasses and dentures for poor seniors in Medicaid (they did), and whether to spend state money so the children of legal immigrants can get low-cost health insurance (they didn't). (5/8/06, AP)

 

Surplus no help to some programs

For Loranne Ausley, fighting to get more money to help newborns and toddlers who were born prematurely was more than just another feel-good issue. (5/2/06, Miami Herald)

 

Postpone the threat of a lifetime penalty

The financial penalties for seniors who enroll in the Medicare drug benefit after the May 15 enrollment deadline are "unfair," a Herald editorial states. The Herald says that the choices Medicare beneficiaries face are "complicated" and that the program still has unaddressed glitches. The editorial concludes that "the least Congress can do" is extend the deadline to "allow 1.1 million more seniors to enroll without lifetime penalties" (5/2/06, Miami Herald)

 

Seven insurers plan to join Duval Medicaid waiver pilot

At least seven companies have plans to operate in Duval

County as part of the state's privatized Medicaid health-insurance program that is to debut in Jacksonville within the next three months.  (5/1/2006, Jacksonville Business Journal)

 

As a deadline nears, Medicare drug plan still a puzzle for many: 500,000 eligible in state haven't enrolled

Two weeks before the deadline to sign up, about 500,000 Medicare recipients in Florida without prescription drug insurance have not enrolled in the new federal drug program. An estimated 2.6 million of 3.1 million Medicare members in Florida now have drug coverage through the Medicare benefit that started Jan. 1 or through their employers, the Veterans Administration or other sources, federal officials say. But confusion still runs deep among those trying to decide whether Medicare's complex drug benefit is a good deal, and, if so, which of more than 100 private insurance companies offering the coverage in South Florida would be best for them. (5/1/06, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

 

Governor: We need cash for rainy day 

In a year of plenty, Gov. Jeb Bush and legislative leaders are talking almost as much about saving cash as they are about spending it. . . .  Medicaid spending is expected to rise to $15.5 billion in the coming year, a 3.2 percent boost.  Although Medicaid's growth is below its skyrocketing pace of the past decade, lawmakers are skittish about enhancing programs and adding to Florida's recurring budget needs. Politics plays a role in that, critics say. "The poor are not perceived as voters," said Karen Woodall, a lobbyist for programs serving low-income Floridians. "You can see that's what legislators think when they make these spending decisions."  (4/24/06, Orlando Sentinel)

 

Hearing aids to be paid for by Medicaid under budget agreement 

The state will pay for hearing aids for poor people under the Medicaid program with an agreement reached by legislative budget writers as lawmakers try to close out their differences on how to spend state money in the coming year. The House agreed to a Senate proposal to spend about $900,000 in state money to cover hearing aids, something the Legislature cut spending for a few years ago when times were tight. ``We've been trying to get that back for three years,'' said Karen Woodall, a social services advocate who pushes for increased Medicaid coverage for the poor. (4/24/06, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

 

Medicaid recipients must prove citizenship

A law intended to keep illegal immigrants from freeloading on a government health care benefit could have a costly side effect - it could strip millions of legitimate beneficiaries of their coverage, leaving them uninsured. The law could further jeopardize health care providers' ability to treat patients and maintain a "reasonable profit to fund operations," said Paul Jennings, senior vice president for managed care at Riverside-based St. Vincent's Medical Center.  (4/23/06, Florida Times-Union)

 

OPINION: Coverage for all: Massachusetts health care plan may serve as a template for the Sunshine State

The crisis in health care coverage in the U.S. is past the tipping point. More than 46 million Americans are uninsured, including more than 3 million Floridians. Those lucky enough to have insurance pay ever higher premiums and face the specter of bankruptcy when a major illness strikes a family member. Meanwhile, businesses are being crushed by skyrocketing costs for employee health coverage.What are the feds doing about it? Nothing. As for Florida's lawmakers, they're wearing blinders on the issue. (4/18/06, Florida Today)

 

OPINION: Don't squander surplus

Florida is flush with cash. A booming real estate market has handed the Legislature another $1-billion or so as it crafts a 2006- 07 state budget. . . .This is an opportunity that should not be squandered, because it is not likely to come around again. . . . Legislators would cut up to $200-million from KidCare, the subsidized health insurance program for children, even though the state covers only half of those whose families cannot afford private insurance. (4/16/06. St. Petersburg Times)

 

 

NATIONAL ISSUES

 

Medicare and Medicaid

  

Medicare Drug Coverage, Drug Costs

 

G.O.P. Sees Big Voting Bloc Flocking to Drug Program
Aides say that President Bush's prescription drug plan, once seen as too complicated, is emerging as a surprise plus for Republicans. (5/10/06, New York Times)

 

President Bush makes pitch for Medicare drug plan to Coconut Creek seniors 

With the enrollment deadline six days away, President Bush urged senior citizens at a counseling event Tuesday to take advantage of Medicare's new prescription drug program. During a 30-minute stop at Broward Community College, Bush chatted with a hand-picked group of 40 to 50 seniors. He said the Medicare coverage would save them on their drug costs. (5/10/06, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

 

ATM-Like Device Gives Patients Easy Access to a Generic Rx, Saving Them, and Insurers, Money
They look like ATMs but when the right password is punched in, prescription drugs - all generics - pop out instead of greenbacks. And soon these machines, which encourage doctors to prescribe generics instead of more expensive brand-name drugs, could be coming to a physician's office near you. (5/5/06, Newsday)

 

Medicare Drug Information Hotline Full Of Mistakes
The Government-Accountability-Office (GAO) had its people pose as senior citizens and placed 500 calls to 1-800-MEDICARE hotline and asked for information. Over 30% of the information they received was the wrong. The most important question ‘Which drug plan costs the least for my specific needs' was answered incorrectly 59% of the time. (5/4/06, Medical News Today)

Snowbirds' face benefit quandary
Hundreds of thousands of older Americans who travel for extended periods face an added requirement in the selection of Medicare drug coverage: Choosing a plan that goes with them. (5/2/06, AP/Washington Times)

Half of Senior Medicare Part D Enrollees Review Favorably, Most Have Few Problems, Many Others Not Aware Of Enrollment Deadline, Survey Shows
Forty eight percent of seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug benefit have a favorable view of the program, while 52% of seniors who are not enrolled have an unfavorable view, according to an April Kaiser Health Poll Report Survey (4/28/06, Medical News Today)

Medicare Rule Guarantees Continuity of Drugs

The Bush administration issued a new policy on Wednesday that protects Medicare beneficiaries against the sudden loss of coverage for drugs they are taking under the prescription drug program. Under the policy, insurers can still change their lists of covered drugs, known as formularies. But if they drop any drugs or impose new restrictions, they must exempt beneficiaries who are now taking those drugs. (4/27/06, New York Times)

 

Medicaid Spending On Outpatient Drugs More Than Doubled In Recent Years, New Study Shows

(4/27/06, Medical News Today)

 

Drug Firms' Deals Allowing Exclusivity: Makers of Generics Being Paid to Drop Patent Challenges, FTC Review Finds 

Brand-name drug companies have resumed the practice of slowing the sale of cheaper generic competitors by cutting deals that result in paying millions of dollars to makers of generic drugs while consumers continue to pay brand-name prices. (4/25/06, Washington Post)

 

FDA Needs Teeth To Respond To Post Marketing Drug Problems

A congressional study stated that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) needs to have an effective process to respond to problems that emerge when drugs have come onto the market. The GAO study says the FDA is doing an inadequate job of monitoring the safety of approved drugs.
(4/25/06, Medical News Today)

 
African Americans and Medicare Part D: Knowledge, Understanding, and Enrollment Intentions

Fewer than half (47 percent) of the African American seniors surveyed by the Joint Center knew that the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan offers subsidies to low-income beneficiaries. Only 43 percent knew that the plan required no application fee. (4/06, Health Affairs)

 

Deadline Near, Jams Are Seen for Drug Plan
Medicare drug plans expect a surge of new enrollment that threatens to overwhelm already busy phone lines. (4/24/06, New York Times)

 

Congressional Investigators Are Critical of F.D.A.'s Efforts to Detect Drug Dangers
The Food and Drug Administration suffers from disorganization, bureaucratic infighting and an inability to force drug makers to conduct needed safety tests, auditors say. (4/24/06, New York Times)

 

Seniors And Disabled Face 7% Rise In Medicare Drug Plan Costs
As authorities aim for 90% coverage for America's seniors and disabled people, government calculations indicate that those beneficiaries may be facing cost increases of up to 6.68%. The 90% plus target is for May 15. (4/21/06, Medical News Today) 

 

Senators want Medicare signup extended

Forty-eight of the 100 senators urged Republican leaders and the Bush administration on Wednesday to allow people more time to sign up for the Medicare drug benefit beyond the May 15 deadline. (4/20/06, St. Petersburg Times)

 

Makers Get Limited Approval of Free-Drug Plans
Federal officials gave a green light to programs in which pharmaceutical companies provide free drugs to needy Medicare beneficiaries. (4/19/06, New York Times)

 

Medicare Drug Benefit Deadline Extension "Not Legally Permissible," per CMS Deputy Administrator
(4/14/06, AP)

 

CMS Extends Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Enrollment Deadline For Some Low-Income Beneficiaries
Under a new policy announced this month, CMS will allow "ongoing" enrollment in the Medicare prescription drug benefit for beneficiaries who qualify for a low-income subsidy. (4/14/06, Wall Street Journal) 

 

Other Medicare, Medicaid News

US Medicare Fund 12 Years From Running Out: Trustees
The U.S. Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in a dozen years, two earlier than forecast last year, because of increasing health care costs, the funds' trustees said on Monday. (5/2/06, Reuters)

Bush Administration Proposals Would Help Address Future Medicare Insolvency, CMS Administrator Says
Speaking at an event at the American Enterprise Institute, McClellan said the two proposals, which are included in Bush's fiscal year 2007 budget, would help lower Medicare costs and might avoid the need to make more drastic cuts in the future. He said the financial problems predicted in the annual report from Medicare trustees justify the need for Congress to pass Bush's proposals. (5/5/06, Medical News Today)

Finances of Social Security and Medicare Deteriorate
The financial condition of Medicare and Social Security deteriorated in the last year, the Bush administration reported Monday, and it warned again that the programs were unsustainable in their current form. (5/2/06, New York Times)

In Scramble for New Medicare Business, a Few Insurers Grab the Most
Two companies, UnitedHealth Group and Humana, have captured nearly half of the vast new market for prescription drug insurance under Medicare, according to new data issued Friday by the Bush administration.  (4/29/06, New York Times)

Medicaid and the Deficit Reduction Act

Beginning July 1, 2006, millions of U.S. citizens enrolled in Medicaid will have to provide documentation to prove their citizenship status. This is an unprecedented change that could result in many eligible citizens being denied access to the health care services to which they are entitled. This new requirement is one of several damaging changes to the Medicaid program caused by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. It will especially hurt African Americans, who are disproportionately less likely to have the documentation necessary to prove their citizenship. (4/06, Families USA)

 

OPINION: “Medicare for All" Death by Insurance 

Lack of health insurance is "quickly becoming the new normal." (5/1/06, New York Times)

 

IMMIGRATION: Effect of Proposals on Medicaid Costs Examined 

CQ Today examined how legislative proposals that would provide "legal status to millions of illegal immigrants could boost Medicaid and welfare costs, increasing projected budget deficits and thwarting efforts to curb the growth of entitlement programs." (4/18/06, Kaiser Network) 

 

 

Health Insurance and Costs

 

Senate next stop for health-care debate

A showdown is looming in the U.S. Senate between the interests of small businesses nationwide and health-care advocacy groups. The bottom line is your health, and access to health care could be at stake. Bill would allow small businesses to join ranks across state lines to purchase health insurance; some say plan is bad for public health. (5/8/06, Naples News)

 

In Speech Before American Hospital Association, President Bush Discusses Rising Health Costs, Calls On Congress To Act
(5/4/06, Medical News Today)

 

Sen. Schumer Proposes Legislation To Add $430M In Veterans' Health Care Nationwide
Sen. Charles Schumer plans to introduce an amendment to an emergency appropriations bill under consideration in the Senate to add $430 million for veterans health benefits. (5/3/06, Medical News Today)

 

Bush Challenges Congress to Tame Health Costs

President Bush said in a speech that health care costs are rising too fast, and called on Congress to act. (5/1/06, AP)

 

OPINION: Time to Stop Gambling with America's Health

Despite decades of warnings about the toll rising healthcare costs and the growing number of uninsured are taking on our collective health and nation's economy, our leaders continue to leave the issue of the uninsured to chance. By failing to take action, they are gambling with some of the nation's most important assets, the health and livelihood of its hard-working people. And unless they act soon, it's a bet they are likely to lose.  By failing to make healthcare coverage for the nearly 46 million uninsured Americans a top priority, our elected representatives are allowing the problem to grow.  (4/06, Philanthropy News Digest)

 

Bill To Help Small Business With Health Insurance Criticized

Thirty-nine state attorneys general say they oppose a Senate bill that proponents say would help small businesses afford health insurance, but critics fear will undermine the insurance market and drive up costs for some. In a letter to the Senate, the attorneys general said the bill would strip states of many of their rights to regulate health insurers and could "subject consumers to reduced care and ever-increasing out-of-pocket expenses." The letter comes as Congress debates ways to expand access to health insurance, particularly for small businesses. Two measures are pending. (4/26/06, USA Today)

 

Business Sector an Ally in Health Care Equity

At a Kaiser Family Foundation forum on health care disparities, health policy experts suggested the business community could effectively press for policies to improve health care equity for racial and ethnic minorities given its role as a consumer of health insurance and its vested interest in a healthy workforce. (4/26/06, AHA News Now)

 

Nationwide Protests Assail Wal-Mart and Other Companies' Health Benefits

Protestors in 35 cities around the country demonstrated against Wal-Mart on April 26 as part of a national campaign calling for better employee health coverage. (4/26/06, Houston Chronicle)

 

OPINION: Wall Street Journal Editorial Dismisses Massachusetts Mandate

The Massachusetts plan to mandate health insurance is not the way to solve the problem of the uninsured, and instead endorses market-based reform. (4/24/06, Wall Street Journal)

 

Small Businesses Look to HSAs and AHPs to Lower Health Care Costs

Small businesses beset by soaring health costs are turning to a variety of strategies to try to control costs, reports. (4/19/06, USA Today)

 

Wal-Mart to Make It Easier for Part-Time Workers to Get Insurance

Wal-Mart announced that it would lower -- to one year -- the time period that part-time workers need to wait before becoming eligible for health insurance. (4/18/06, AP)

 

Drug Firms 'Gouge' Consumers After Taking Taxpayer Handouts

Thanks to huge government grants offered to pharma companies that turn around and make gigantic profits off the drugs they create, Americans are paying twice for many of the drugs on which they depend. In response to a major pharmaceutical company's announcement of skyrocketing profits and its plans to expand the market for an expensive cancer treatment, patient- and consumer-rights advocates are demanding that the government step in and stop corporate "price gouging."  (4/14/06, New Standard) 

 

Community benefit is a vital part of every nonprofit hospital's responsibility

There is broad agreement that this extends beyond providing charity care.  Charity care is the single largest component of most hospitals' quantifiable community benefit...As long as we as a country fail to cover all people--by whatever means and to whatever extent--charity care will continue to be the elephant in the room of community benefit. Beyond charity care, the community benefit activities of your hospital or health system are driven by the particular health needs of your local population and supported by the unique human and other resources of your hospital. (4/06, Health & Hospital News)

 

OPINION: Employer-Based Health Coverage Is Failing, but Options Are Limited

The employer-based health coverage system that was stable for decades is cracking, and the solutions for remedying it all have problems. (4/13/06, Wall Street Journal)

 

Rising Numbers Of Uninsured In Moderate And Middle Income American Families Leading To Downward Spiral Of Debt, Forgone Care And Poorer Health
41% of  working-age Americans with incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 a year were uninsured for at least part of the past year--a dramatic and rapid increase from 2001 when  28% of those with moderate incomes were uninsured, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem, prepared for the Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System. (3/30/06, Medical News Today)

 

Long Wait Times Can Deter Poor And Ill Patients From Receiving Safety Net Care, Study, USA
(3/24/06, Journal of Urban Health)

 

 

Other Health Issues

 

At Risk: High-Traffic Areas Tied to Children's Asthma Risk
Children who live near busy roads are more likely to have symptoms of asthma than those who do not. (5/9/06, New York Times)

Doctors Object to Gathering of Drug Data
Some doctors consider computerized lists showing which doctors are prescribing what drugs an intrusion. Although virtually unknown to consumers, the information has long been considered the most potent weapon in pharmaceutical sales - computerized dossiers showing which physicians are prescribing what drugs. But now a rebellion is under way by some doctors, who consider the data-gathering an intrusion that feeds overzealous sales practices among the nation's estimated 90,000 drug company representatives. Public officials are also weighing in. A vote on a state bill to clamp down on the practice is scheduled for today in New Hampshire, and similar bills have been introduced in other states, including Arizona and West Virginia. (5/4/06, New York Times) 

 

Study Says Older Americans Are Less Healthy Than British
Americans 55 and over are much sicker than their British counterparts even though the United States spends more than twice as much per person on health care as Britain, researchers said Tuesday. (5/3/06, New York Times)

 

Patterns: Making Patients Happy Doesn't Make Them Well
When it came to medical treatment, the satisfaction expressed by a group of elderly patients had little correlation with the quality of care they had received. (5/2/06, New York Times)

 

African Americans Trust Health Workers Less

Black Americans are more likely than their white counterparts to distrust the health-care system, in part because a lack of insurance forces them into emergency rooms or clinics where they build up no rapport with doctors and nurses, a study found. (4/25/06, Washington Post)

 

In Heart Disease, the Focus Shifts to Women
By DENISE GRADY
Puzzling differences have emerged between men and women with heart disease, making it plain that past studies do not always apply to women. (4/18/06, New York Times)

Return to Top

HEALTH ADVOCACY RESOURCES

May 12, 2006 

 

FLORIDA CHAIN WEBSITE RESOURCES UPDATE

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICES

MANUALS, GUIDES, AND TOOLKITS

TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO VISUAL RESOURCES

     Audioconferences and Webcasts

    Media Programming

     Web Sites, Web Features

     Videos

PERIODICAL AND BOOKS

REPORTS AND STUDIES

     New Listings

          Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

        Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform

        New Listings: Health Equity Issues

        New Listings: Other Health Issues

     Florida Reports

     Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

    Federal Budget/Health Care

     Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform

     Health Equity Issues

     Other Health Issues

 

 FLORIDA CHAIN WEB SITE RESOURCE UPDATE


KidCare Evaluation 2005
Outreach Strategies for SCHIP

 

Medicare Part D Consumer Fact Sheet on Getting Drugs After the Transition Period 

Provided by US Dept. of Health and Human Services.

 

Provider’s Guide to Immigration Issues Regarding Florida KidCare

Florida CHAIN has posted The Refugee and Entrant Project's one page guide that answers many frequently asked questions about Florida KidCare that are specific to refugee families.  For additional support, it also provides a list of Florida KidCare hotline numbers.

 

The Florida CHAIN web site now includes resource information in Spanish. To access, click here.

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

 

New grant listings

 

American Psychiatric Foundation Offers Grants for Mental Illness Public Education and Outreach
Deadline: September 1

The American Psychiatric Foundation, a charitable and educational subsidiary of the American Psychiatric Association, is making up to $750,000 in total grant funds available over the course of three years (2005-07) to fund public education, information, and outreach initiatives that promote the  early recognition and treatment of mental illness. The foundation seeks to fund new and innovative ideas and programs that promote public awareness of mental illness, the effectiveness of treatment, and the importance of early intervention.

 

Black/African American Community Education Grant Program
Deadline: May 22
The American Cancer Society is providing grants to fund events and projects that reach the Black/African American population with education on the risks and prevalence of colorectal and/or breast cancer in their communities.  This request for applications is open to all non-profit community based organizations with a commitment to delivering health or cancer specific initiatives to Black/African American adults. Four types of grants are available for Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties only: Colorectal Cancer Health Events -  $500 to $3,000; Colorectal Cancer Education Projects - $3,000 to $30,000; Breast Cancer Health Events - $500 to $3,000; Breast Cancer Education  -  $3,000 to $30,000. For more information, contact Rose Guerra at 305/779-2874 or Rose.Guerra@cancer.org

Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida Winter 2006 Grant Cycle
Deadline: September 15
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida supports philanthropic, community-based solutions that address many different health care challenges facing Florida both today and in the future. Grants will be awarded to improve program capacity and reduce barriers to access, with a particular focus on the uninsured and underserved. The Foundation will focus a significant portion of its resources to maximize impact in the area of community-based health clinics and outreach services. The Foundation awards up to $1 million annually. Grants range in size from $10,000 to $100,000. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations with 501 (c)(3) status and located in Florida.

CVS/pharmacy Accepting Applications for Community Grants Program
Deadline: October 31
CVS/pharmacy supports the communities it serves by offering nonprofit organizations the CVS/pharmacy Community Grant. The Community Grants program is currently accepting proposals for the following: 1) Programs targeting children under the age of 18 with disabilities that address any of the following: health and  rehabilitation services; public schools promoting a greater  level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular  programs; and creating opportunities or facilities that give  greater access to physical movement and play. 2) Healthcare services for uninsured people. All CVS/pharmacy Community Grant applications must be submitted online between January and October of each calendar year.

State Coverage Initiatives
Through funding from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, State Coverage Initiatives offers both policy planning and demonstration grants. SCI grants are designed to support states in the early stages of planning coverage expansions and those states that have decided on a new coverage expansion mechanism and seek assistance designing and implementing the program. Specific new grant opportunities are announced on the Web site and through the e-newsletter, St@teside; however, states may submit project ideas at any time. For specific info, contact isabel.friedenzohn@academyhealth.org or 202/292-6726

Continuing grant listings, in order of submission deadlines

 

Allegany Franciscan Ministries Miami-Dade Major Grants

Pre-application document deadline: May 18 

Focus:  Increasing access to health services and improving the overall health status of underserved populations in Miami-Dade County through investments in advocacy, capacity building, and educational outreach opportunities. Three Major 2006 Miami-Dade Region grants are anticipated, in amounts from $40,000 to $75,000. 

 

Allegany Franciscan Ministries Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties

Major Grants Pre-application document deadline: May 19

Focus:  Promoting culturally competent health care to reduce ethnic and racial disparities in economically poor and disinvested communities in Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie Counties. Five Major 2006 Palm Beach Region grants are anticipated, with amounts from $100,000 to $250,000.

Tau Grants Deadline: July 14

Ten Tau 2006 Palm Beach Region grants are anticipated, with amounts up to $5,000.  

Lorraine Gallagher Freimann Healthcare Initiative Grants

Allegany Franciscan Ministries and Palm Healthcare Foundation make these funds available on an annual competitive basis to organizations providing services to underserved populations in Palm Beach County. They seek programs that remove barriers to healthcare access for underserved and indigent populations, focusing on language access and medical translation services and healthcare navigation for diverse communities. Look for a request for proposals in May.

 

Advancing Recovery: State and Provider Partnerships for Quality Addiction Care
Deadline:  May 31
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Advancing Recovery: State and Provider Partnerships for Quality Addiction Care is an $11 million national program designed to encourage treatment providers to use evidence-based practices through innovative partnerships with single state agencies. We expect this initiative to improve clinical and administrative practices that are currently impeding the use of evidence-based practices.

 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation -- Local Initiative Funding Partners 
Deadline: July 6 (Stage I)
Local Initiative Funding Partners (LIFP) is a partnership program between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and local grantmakers to fund projects to improve the health and health care of vulnerable people in their communities. Projects must be new, innovative, collaborative and community based, and must be nominated by a local grantmaker interested in participating as a funding partner. Up to $6 million in funding is available for 14 matching grants of $200,000 to $500,000. Eligible applicants are local funding partners, including independent and private foundations, family and community foundations, and corporate and other philanthropies.

 

American Heart Association, Clinton Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Help Schools Create a Healthier Environment for Nation's Students

Applications available July 1

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has announced a new collaboration with schools to create environments that foster healthy lifestyles and prevent overweight and obesity among students. The Alliance works to address the issues that contribute to childhood obesity and to inspire all young Americans to develop lifelong healthy habits. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded the Alliance $8 million to support the Healthy Schools Program.

 

Allegany Franciscan Ministries Capacity Building Scholarship

Allegany Franciscan Ministries will award, in Miami-Dade, Tampa Bay, and Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie areas, Capacity Building Scholarships throughout 2006 as long as funds are available.  Scholarships of up to $300 may be requested to pay registration fees for conferences, seminars and other training opportunities for the staff and volunteers of nonprofit organizations in order to increase their capacity to deliver efficient and effective services to those in need.  Organizations may submit scholarship applications at any time, preferably at least six weeks prior to the registration deadline of the conference or training program. 

 

Alzheimer’s or Related Dementia Group Respite Program Seed Grants

Deadline: July 6

The Brookdale Foundation's National Group Respite Program awards seed grants to organizations to develop and implement social model group respite programs. These day programs serve elders with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia and their family caregivers. 

 

Directory Of Health Policy Fellowships

This Kaiser directory contains new listings for undergraduates, graduate students and professionals searching for summer, school-year, or post-doctoral positions.

 

ORGANZATIONS AND SERVICES

 

Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.

 

Movement For Medical Privacy Grows In The USA       

As Congress moves rapidly to build a national electronic health system, a coalition of 26 organizations representing constituencies across the political and ideological spectrum will urge the U.S. House of Representatives to build a patient-centered system with patient privacy rights at the core of any national HIT legislation.  (Patient Privacy Rights Foundation)

 

Access to Benefits Coalition

The nonprofit ABC is dedicated to ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries with limited incomes know about and make the best use of all available resources for accessing prescription drugs and reducing their costs. ABC is working through local community coalitions to inform beneficiaries and their families, as well as the professionals who serve them, about Medicare Part-D. Extra Help is provided online or in person; find out if you or someone qualifies by going to BenefitsCheckUpRx?. Publications include: Applying for the Low-Income Subsidy: A Tool Kit for Advocates; and Pathways to Success: Meeting the Challenge of Enrolling Medicare Beneficiaries with Limited Incomes

 

Medicare Rights Center (MRC) is a comprehensive independent source of health care information and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities. Multiple services include: a telephone hotline; a database of case advice; education and training; public policy work; electronic newsletters; and communications with local and national media outlets. Publications include:

Questions to Ask when Considering a Medicare Health Plan;  What do I need to know about the new drug benefit if I am in a Medicare HMO or other private health plan?; Medicare: A National Treasure for 40 Years.

 

The National Hispanic Resource Help-Line 1/800-473-3003 provides support for Latinos throughout the nation who need information about educational, health and human service providers. To become part of their database, click here.

  

MANUALS, GUIDES, TOOLKITS

 

Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.

 

Fact Sheets and Primer on the Uninsured
The Kaiser Family Foundation has collected links to some resources on the topics of health coverage and the nation’s uninsured population to assist you in your work related to these issues:

The Uninsured and Their Access to Care

Covering the Uninsured: Growing Need, Strained Resources

Massachusetts’ New Law to Cover the Uninsured

Women's Health Insurance Coverage

The Uninsured: A Primer

 

Medicare Part D Consumer Fact Sheet on Getting Drugs After the Transition Period 

Provided by US Dept. of Health and Human Services.

 

Fact Sheet Summarizes Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility Rules for Immigrants

A new fact sheet from the Foundation's KCMU provides an overview of the current rules on immigrants' eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. 

 

Fact Sheet on Massachusetts' Law to Cover the Uninsured
Massachusetts' plan to cover their uninsured population has become law. It combines an individual mandate on the purchase of health insurance, with government subsidies to ensure affordability. An April 21, 2006 fact sheet by the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) summarizes the plan and its implications.

 

Resource Center for Enzi Bill, Bad for Health Care Consumers
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has approved legislation that will override consumer protections enacted by the states to protect health insurance consumers. Families USA has set up a resource center for information on the so-called Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act (HIMMA), which was introduced by Senator Michael Enzi of Wyoming. This new resource center includes letters of opposition and fact sheets from insurance commissioners as well as several national organizations. 

 

Medicare Rights Center Resources to Fix Part-D

MRC promotes fixing Part-D by making it available under Original Medicare and negotiating drug prices. Here are four resources to help educate others:

Presentation (Powerpoint) on Why We Need a Drug Benefit Under Original Medicare

"Part D - No Guarantee" Confusion Chart Flier 

Why is the Privatized Part D Drug Benefit a Disaster?

The New Part D Prescription Drug Program: A Gamble for All Americans

 

Guide for Communicating with African-American Men about Prostate Cancer

Florida A&M University Center for Minority Prostate Cancer Training and Research has released a resource guide for health care providers, educators and researchers to assist in communicating with African-American men about prostate cancer screening, clinical trials and treatment. African-American men are 2.4 times more likely to die of prostate cancer when compared to White men. They also have the highest incidence of the disease compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The Center has received over $1M from the U.S. Army Department of Defense to study prostate cancer disparities experienced by African-American men.

Applying for the Low-Income Subsidy: A Tool Kit for Advocates
Access to Benefits Coalition provides these Tools You Can Use to help people apply for the extra help available through the new Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage.

 

Families USA is offering a new resource, Making Public Programs Work for Communities of Color: An Action Kit for Community Leaders, from its Minority Health Initiatives Department. The kit provides community leaders with information, tools, and resources to engage in health advocacy and improve the health and well being of their communities. Emphasizing the importance of public programs in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, the kit contains: a summary and statistics of racial and ethnic health disparities and the role public programs can play in reducing them; an overview of Medicaid (and SCHIP) and Medicare, including their relationships to communities of color; fact sheets on improving health coverage for racial and ethnic minority groups; state and local case studies on health advocacy; advocacy tools including a powerpoint presentation, and lists of organizations and publications. Contact: 202/628-3030 or rpanares@familiesusa.org.

 

2005-2006 Healthy Kids Marketing and Public Relations Tool Kit now available

Healthy Kids asks users to please forward updates on items used, including how they were used, numbers distributed and feedback on effectiveness. Call center staff need to be aware of any efforts so they know which items are out in each community and are prepared to address questions. To make changes or additions to any design or use the trademarked logos or phone numbers, prior approval is required to ensure that accurate information is distributed. Send requests to floyda@healthykids.org or fax to 850/224-0615.

 

Health Literacy Fact Sheets  

This series of nine fact sheets was created for those who are designing patient education materials for consumers with low health literacy skills. The sheets define health literacy, describe its impact on health outcomes, provide strategies to prepare appropriate educational materials to assist low-literate consumers, and provide resources for additional health literacy information and publications.

 

The Medicaid Matters web site is a resource for people working across the country to protect Medicaid, the health insurance that 50 million rely on. It stores a ready-to-use toolkit of messages, materials and dissemination ideas. Users are able to download, at no cost, tested messages emphasizing the importance of Medicaid and the threat now facing the program. Messages are enhanced by high quality, full color photography. One set of materials is designed to be ready to print. Once downloaded, they can be forwarded to any print house or copy shop without any further formatting. The second set of materials is designed so that components of the product can be adapted to suit the needs of that organization or constituency that wishes to use them.

 

Turning the Tide: Why Acting on Inequity Can Help Reduce Chronic Diseases, a tool kit now available from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Atlantic Regional Office, is designed to support the use of the document, The Tides of Change: Addressing Inequity and Chronic Disease in Atlantic Canada; A Discussion Paper. The package was produced for use by community organizations in examining their work and policies and contains a variety of hands-on resources for use in presentations and group discussions. 

 

Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace is an online chartbook that presents up-to-date information on key health care marketplace trends. The chartbook highlights national health expenditures, health care spending and costs, employee and retiree health coverage, HMO enrollment, hospital data, and public views on topics such as managed care, medical errors, and quality information.

 

TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO/VIDEO RESOURCES

 

Audio Conferences and Webcasts

 

Dated events listed chronologically; standing webcasts listed last

Dental Care Access and Prevention Strategies

May 18  ACHI audio conference

 

Operation Access: Providing Donated Outpatient Surgery to Uninsured People

June 15  ACHI audio conference

 

YMCAs and Hospitals: Successful Collaborations for Healthier Communities

July 20   ACHI audio conference

 

Policies and Procedures to Strengthen Community Benefit Accountability

Sept. 21  ACHI audio conference

   

Families USA Conference Call Audio Playbacks

Throughout 2006, Families USA is holding a series of conference calls on a range of health care topics for state and local advocates. Interested, but can't make it? Don't worry. You can catch up on what you missed by listening to the audio playback. To listen to these conference calls, you will need RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. Click here for listening instructions.

 

ACHI Spring Training for Health Champions Conference Sessions
(March 14-16, 2006) Download and view more than 30 presentation files from the meeting.

 

Catholic Health Association/VHA Community Benefit Conference Session Presentations
This year's conference highlighted the core components of community benefit programming with a special focus on program evaluation, how to count community benefits and innovation in the field.

 

The Causes and Policy Implications of Rising Health Care Spending
Webcast of panelists at this Brookings Institution event discussing President Bush's health care policies that will expand the use of health savings accounts in an effort to place more responsibility on individuals. 

 

Media Programming

 

Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge on Nickelodeon
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation believes that the best way to make kids healthier is to help THEM take charge of their own health. In partnership with Nickelodeon, the Alliance spreads the word about good health and motivates kids to join the Healthier Generation movement. The Let's Just Play Go Healthy Challenge was launched April 30th, with the introduction of four real children on their quest to eat better, play harder, and feel better.

 

How Hospitals Heal Themselves

A one-hour documentary airing on public television Spring and Summer 2006

Call your local PBS station for time of broadcast

This rare good news documentary reports on a surprising solution to escalating costs, unnecessary deaths and waste in America's hospitals. Doctors and nurses tell how they did their best, working overtime, while hospital conditions worsened. They were delighted to learn a new way to improve patient care dramatically and reduce unnecessary deaths, suffering, errors, infections and costs without additional resources or government regulations.

 

"60 Minutes" Targets Hospitals' Billing of the Uninsured

"60 Minutes" segment transcript
"60 Minutes" responses to segment transcript

Connect with Kids TV Program on Obesity Prevention

Connect with Kids, with CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Florida’s Department of Health have developed a 30-minute television program focusing on the obesity epidemic among youth. The program, titled “The Biggest Generation” will be available for airing nationwide beginning March 15, 2006. To see when the stations have scheduled the show, click here  and then click on the upcoming programs link at the bottom of the page. If your local station is not listed and you are interested in promoting the program to your local television station, call 404/459-8081 ext 105. 

 

 

Web Sites, Web Features & Databases

 

Newest postings are listed at the top of State and National Web Resources sections below

 

State Web Resources

 

State Level Data on Health Coverage & the Uninsured

Kaiser Family Foundation's interactive web tool includes the health insurance status of the state’s population (those with various types of health coverage or who are uninsured), and demographic information (such as income, race/ethnicity, age, gender) for those who are uninsured, have employer-based insurance, or Medicaid.
Information about Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries can be found in those respective categories. Find data from other categories on the website that relate to Health Coverage & Uninsured.

 

Medicaid Applications Online 24/7 and in Neighborhoods

Local partners can direct families to their area sites or online to apply for Medicaid and other benefits. The Web Application is generally preferable as the data makes it into the Florida system more quickly and there is a reduced chance of data entry errors.

 

DCF Offers Medicare Part D Powerpoints Re: Persons with Mental Illness
Florida Department of Children and Families has made available powerpoint presentations used on a December 2nd Video Teleconference sponsored by the Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Florida National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The first is an overview of the new Medicare Part D (pharmacy benefit), the second about Medicare pharmacy plans and the third about steps for low income Medicare beneficiaries to get extra help from Social Security in paying for pharmacy benefits. Other portals link to CMS for information about the Medicare Part D pharmacy plans, benefits and enrollment; and a Social Security website for low income persons who have Medicare ONLY and need to apply for extra help in paying for Part D pharmacy benefits. The Florida SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elderly) program is a statewide, volunteer based program that provides free information, counseling and assistance on Medicare (including Part D), Medicaid and Medicare supplemental insurance. SHINE can be accessed at 1/800-963-5337.

 

Florida Kids insurance application can be done online

Families wanting to apply for the state's health insurance program for children can now apply online. Florida Healthy Kids has redesigned its Web site at www.healthykids.org to allow people to apply electronically for the KidCare programs, which include Healthy Kids, Children's Medical Services and MediKids. (2/16/06, Daytona News-Journal) More

 

Website Offers Free 24 Hour Health Information to Floridians to address concerns and inquiries 

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) Secretary encourages health care consumers to visit www.FLHealthSource.com whenever they need information about a licensed health care professional. DOH’s Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) maintains FLHealthSource.com. The site provides health care consumers with a host of information, including license status, office address, and disciplinary information for all health care professionals licensed in Florida.

The site also provides additional information for the five profiled professions –medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, chiropractic physicians, podiatric physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs).

 

Medicare/Medically Needy Poster for Clinics
Florida Transplant Survivors Coalition, Inc. offers on their website a poster suitable for posting in clinics, Pharmacies and other centers where the Medicare/ Medically Needy benefit recipient visits. Since the 20% copay in cancer and anti-rejections drugs is still not part of any state plan to aid us, all are encouraged to download this poster. 

 

Statehealthfacts.org provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data on all 50 states, covering more than 500 health topics. 

 

Florida Progressive Information Network (FLPIN)

offers a nonpartisan communication system designed to link progressive organizers with progressive activists.  Individuals may sign up free of charge to receive alerts on a variety of progressive issues from other organizations participating in the Network. In order to make FLPIN work, it must be used on a regular basis. The more information put in, the more valuable it is as a tool. Link FLPIN to organization websites. A training manual is at www.flpin.net/alert.pdf.  For more information or assistance, contact jen@floridahumanist.org

 

 

National Web Resources

 

Uninsured Tutorial, Module, and Reference Library

This KaiserEDU.org page contains comprehensive resources including links to key research, policy analysis, and the latest data and statistics on the uninsured. 

 

Access to Care for People with Disabilities

New KaiserEDU.org Tutorial provides an overview of policy issues related to accessing health care for people with disabilities, as well as information on the types and prevalence of disabilities in the U.S., the major health care financing mechanisms, and the interaction of the Medicaid program with the ADA.

 

Financing Long-Term Care

This new KaiserEDU.org narrated slide tutorial provides an overview of the financing of long-term services in the U.S., explaining issues related to the cost of long-term care, how families pay for long-term care services, and the role of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

 

Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues and Proposed Solutions includes a corresponding PowerPoint presentation.  (Cover the Uninsured)

 

Guide to Health Insurance Options for Small Businesses includes a Small Business PowerPoint presentation.  (Cover the Uninsured)

 

Immigrant Health Policy Reference Library
This new compendium summarizes data and research on immigrants’ health coverage and access to care. The library also includes a list of organizations that conduct analysis on the impact of major health policies on immigrants and presents research on specific populations, including Latino, African and Asian immigrants.

 

Health Coverage and the Uninsured - Updated Tutorial           

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this tutorial has been updated and expanded to include the latest national and state-level data on insurance coverage. It also now includes current policy proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured and criteria for evaluating the different proposals.

Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligibles Tutorial
This new narrated slide tutorial provides an overview of dual eligibles -- beneficiaries covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. The tutorial presents a profile of dual eligibles, reviews eligibility, benefits and financing for duals, and discusses their transition into the new Medicare prescription drug coverage program.

Medicaid Fact Sheets Tool

Compare your state's Medicaid program and the population it serves to other states and the nation by visiting Kaiser's new interactive online State Medicaid Fact Sheets tool.

 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Part-D Resources
CMS fact sheet that addresses Medicare Part D and homeless clients
Recently revised Medicare Basics: A Guide for Families and Friends of People with Medicare

New Fact Sheet for Physicians on Part-D Transition Policy and Exceptions and Appeals Processes  

 

Interactive Tools on Medicaid

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured presents the State Medicaid Fact Sheets and the Medicaid Benefits Online Database, two interactive tools featuring the latest key data, information and services provided for each state’s Medicaid program. Both tools allow for easy access to the data which can then be printed, saved and emailed.

 

2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines

The Southern Institute on Children and Families, National Program Office for Covering Kids & Families has made available the 2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines. Compiled from the 2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines, these guidelines provide income levels for families at 50%, 100%, 125%, 133%, 150%, 185% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

 

Primer on Low-Income Working Families

Many low-income working families live one health crisis or job setback away from catastrophe. Some barely make ends meet despite "playing by the rules," and more than 9 million working families with children lead this precarious existence. Yet, we know little about their dynamics. This Urban Institute web feature provides a foundation for better understanding this at-risk population.

  

Healthcare Coverage Options Database: Assistance for Obtaining Health Coverage

This Web site provides information on health insurance options for low-income U.S. residents. The site includes comprehensive information on large-scale programs like Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the federal Health Care Tax Credit Program, as well as hundreds of smaller state, federal, and private programs.

 

 

Videos

 

Public Health Foundation Media Resources

Several publications and videos related to minority health are now available through the Public Health Foundation's (PHF) online bookstore. Topics include: breastfeeding promotion in minority communities, epidemiology of diabetes, social determinants of health, neighborhoods and health disparities, as well as introductory Spanish for the healthcare worker. For a full list of resources on minority health, go to PHF's Learning Resource Center, click here. 

 

 

PERIODICALS AND BOOKS

 

The National Center for Health Education (NCHE) is happy to share with you our May/June '06 Volume 5, Issue 3 of the NCHE Growing Healthy Youth, Parents and Communities (YPC) newsletter. This issue features information, activities and resources. You’ll also find activities for students, current health research, heath education resources, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and NCHE news. To receive notice of future issues directly, write jeanne@nche.org

The May issue of Health and Health Care in Schools is online. In this issue: How Drug Companies Pay to Postpone Generics; The Arkansas Story—Requiring BMIs for All Students; Diet/Activity Patterns Cited as Increased Health Risks; Plan B Gets Attention in Pending Lawsuits.

Wellness Program Management Yearbook, Third Edition
The key ingredients for successful programs, comparative statistics, best practices in workplace wellness programs, how to motivate employees, "real-world" management methods, new and emerging trends in health promotion and disease prevention and what other companies are doing, all organized and compiled in this desk reference.  

 

What Works in Tackling Health Inequalities?: Pathways, Policies and Practice Through the Lifecourse Studies in Poverty, Inequality & Social Exclusion
In recent years, tackling health inequalities has become a key policy objective in the UK. However, doubts remain about how best to translate broad policy recommendations into practice. One key area of uncertainty concerns the role of local level initiatives. This book identifies the key targets for intervention through a detailed exploration of the pathways and processes that give rise to health inequalities across the lifecourse.

 

Methods in Social Epidemiology
Social epidemiology is the study of how social interactions -- social norms, laws, institutions, conventia, social conditions and behavior -- affect the health of populations.  This practical, comprehensive introduction to methods in social epidemiology is written by experts in the field. It is perfectly timed for the growth in interest among those in public health, community health, preventive medicine, sociology, political science, social work, and other areas of social research.

 

Health Benefits Newsletter

Titles include: Variety of Strategies Needed to Curb Health Costs; Lower Medical Bills Through Health Coaching; Unveiling the True Cost of Health Care - For a Price; Obesity and Diabetes Rates Soar Among Hispanics, and Employers More Aware of Behavioral Risks.

 

Kaiser Family Foundation offers a weekly Medicare Q&A column that is being distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News. The column answers questions from readers related to the new Medicare drug benefit.

REPORTS AND STUDIES

New Listings

New Listings: Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

 

US Medicare Fund 12 Years From Running Out: Trustees
The U.S. Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in a dozen years, two earlier than forecast last year, because of increasing health care costs, the funds' trustees said in their report on May 1. The trustees predicted that general tax revenues would fund 45 percent of Medicare expenditures by 2012, with the remaining funding derived from payroll taxes and premiums paid by people with Medicare. The Bush administration has indicated the warning should trigger across the board cuts to Medicare reimbursement for doctors, hospitals and other providers.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities issued a statement, Regarding the Social Security and Medicare Trustees' Report stating, "The Trustees’ Report also provides further evidence that while Social Security faces a significant long-term problem, the problem is manageable — one that resembles a house with a leaking roof in need of repair rather than a boat headed for an iceberg." CBPP also published an analysis, Trustees' Report Will Focus Attention on Misguided Medicare "45-Percent Trigger"

Asclepios, a publication of the Medicare Rights Center, the largest Medicare advocacy organization, has stated in their response to the trustees’ report, "It is a phony ploy that is part of a campaign to undermine Medicare, the single most successful domestic program of the past 40 years."

 

Medicaid and the Deficit Reduction Act

Beginning July 1, 2006, millions of U.S. citizens enrolled in Medicaid will have to provide documentation to prove their citizenship status. This is an unprecedented change that could result in many eligible citizens being denied access to the health care services to which they are entitled. This new requirement is one of several damaging changes to the Medicaid program caused by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. It will especially hurt African Americans, who are disproportionately less likely to have the documentation necessary to prove their citizenship, states this Families USA Policy Analysis. S. 1932, Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

 

Medicaid Hospital Waivers in California, Florida, and Massachusetts

This publication provides side-by-side comparisons of three similar waivers recently approved by the federal government. For each waiver, it includes an examination of special terms and conditions, major actions, and unresolved issues related to financing of hospital services. A revision of an August 2005 study, this brief highlights major implementation challenges in the first year of the waiver. (4/06, California HealthCare Foundation)

 
An Early Look At Ten State HIFA Medicaid Waivers
An examination of ten Health Insurance Flexibility and Accountability (HIFA) demonstrations, a major Medicaid initiative of the Bush administration,  found that states have adopted varied program designs, reflecting their particular goals and circumstances. Nationally, it estimates that 300,000 people were covered under HIFA demonstrations as of Dec. 2005. Although this is a sizable number, coverage has fallen far short of the 820,000 expected. (4/06, Health Affairs)

 

Has Medicare Been Privatized? Implications of the Medicare Modernization Act, Beyond the Drug Benefit 

Each [Part D] plan can, and typically does, differ on (a) cost sharing; (b) formulary (i.e., which drugs are covered); (c) pharmacy network; and (d) premiums. This set of choices has proven confusing to beneficiaries. In some cases, this may mean that seniors mistakenly join private plans for all benefits rather than prescription drug plans. It could also make the option of a single private plan that covers everything more appealing. Lastly, insurers may be offering drug-only products as a way to market for their private plan options. For example, Humana offers both types of plans and aims to ‘enroll and migrate’ enrollees from its drug plan to its "full benefit plan.” (2/06, Center for American Progress)

 

 

New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform

Study Heralding the Start of Cover the Uninsured Week
An analysis of government data by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which sponsors Cover the Uninsured Week, found that cost prevented 41.1 percent of uninsured adults from seeing a physician, compared to 9.2 percent of those with insurance.

 

Uninsured Number Increases

Cover the Uninsured Week released a new report that confirms there is a significant gap in the amount of health care accessed by people who do and do not have health care coverage in every state and the District of Columbia. Nationally, uninsured adults are nearly four times more likely not to see a doctor when they need to compared to people who have health coverage.

 

Study Finds More Workers Are Dropping Health Coverage
A recent 42 percent jump in health premiums is forcing more American workers to turn down coverage offered by their employers. (5/5/06, AP/Reuters)

 

Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem

Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey show that, while lack of insurance continues to be highest among families with incomes under $20,000, uninsured rates for moderate- and middle-income earners and their families are rising, putting their health and financial security at risk. (4/06, Commonwealth Fund)

 

The Coverage Gap: A State-by-State Report on Access to Care
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) – a national survey of preventive and health risk behaviors – the researchers analyzed health disparities between insured and uninsured adults.  Using data from the US Census Bureau Current Population Survey from 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2005, they also looked at the number of Americans age 50-64 that are without health care coverage.  The report is being released to launch Cover the Uninsured Week, the largest mobilization in history to promote health coverage for all Americans.

 

Sharp Rise in Out-of-Pocket Spending on Healthcare for American Families
New statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) underscore how rapidly rising healthcare costs are eating into the budgets of America's families. Data from AHRQ's Medical Panel Expenditure Survey (MEPS) show that the percentage of Americans under age 65 whose family-level out-of-pocket spending for healthcare, including insurance, exceeds $2000 a year rose from 37.3% in 1996 to 43.1% in 2003 -- a 16% increase. (5/3/06, Medscape)

 

Half of Young Adults Are Uninsured at Some Point, Survey Finds
A new government survey found that half of all young adults in the U.S. are uninsured; more than 15 million Americans were uninsured for four years in a row; the poorest Americans are the least likely to be covered; and Hispanic Americans are the ethnic group most likely to be uninsured, according to a report released last week by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (4/18/06, Reuters)

More States Extend the Age at Which Children Can Still Be Covered by Parents' Insurance
The Wall Street Journal examined laws being passed in a growing number of states that require health insurers to maintain the coverage of adult-age children under their parents' policies. (4/11/06, Wall Street Journal)

 

Cancer Patients Who Are Uninsured Have a Higher Risk of Dying, Study Finds
Uninsured adults with cancer face a 25 percent greater chance of dying than cancer patients with health care coverage, according to a study by the Intercultural Cancer Council. (4/26/06, Chicago Sun-Times)

 

Kaiser Family Foundation Reports & Chartbooks on the Uninsured

Health Coverage in America, 2004 Data Update

Employer Health Benefits 2005 Annual Survey

Sicker and Poorer: The Consequences of Being Uninsured

The Cost of Care for the Uninsured: What Do We Spend, Who Pays, and What Would Full Coverage Add to Medical Spending?

Threadbare: Holes in America’s Health Care Safety Net

Challenges and Tradeoffs in Low-Income Family Budgets: Implications for Health Coverage

Three Reports on Enrollment and Outreach for Public Health Coverage Programs

Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues and Proposed Solutions

includes a corresponding PowerPoint presentation.  (Cover the Uninsured)

 

Guide to Health Insurance Options for Small Businesses

includes a Small Business PowerPoint presentation.  (Cover the Uninsured)

 

The Community Safety Net and Prescription Drug Access for Low-Income, Uninsured People

While the new Medicare drug benefit has helped alleviate concerns about prescription drug access for elderly and disabled Americans, many low-income, uninsured people under age 65 continue to rely on community safety nets to get needed medications. As the number of uninsured Americans increases, safety net providers are stretching limited resources to meet growing prescription drug needs. (4/06, HSC)

 

The Struggle to Provide Community-Based Care to Low-Income People With Serious Mental Illnesses

This paper describes gaps in services for low-income people with serious mental illnesses as reported by mental health professionals and other observers in twelve U.S. communities. According to respondents, service gaps have grown in recent years—especially for uninsured people—as a result of state budget pressures and Medicaid cost containment policies. (4/06, Health Affairs)

 

Five New Kaiser Family Foundation Reports Explore Long-Term Care Issues Included in the Deficit Reduction Act

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which became law this February, includes several significant changes to Medicaid long-term care policies. The Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has released five new reports on long-term care issues that were addressed by the DRA changes. Long-term care accounts for 36 percent of Medicaid spending (over $100 billion annually) and is utilized by many of Medicaid's most costly beneficiaries, the low-income elderly and individuals with disabilities. (4/17/06, KFF)

 

Revived House Budget Plan Would Cut Domestic Programs Yet Increase Deficits
This Center for Budget and Policy Priorities analysis finds that: 1) The plan would cut 2007 funding for domestic discretionary programs $12 billion below the Senate-passed level; 2) The plan would allow much larger tax cuts in 2007 through 2010 than are currently allowed; and 3)Despite its proposals to reduce domestic programs, the plan would increase the deficit by $254 billion over five years, because of the effect of its tax cuts and defense spending increases.

 

New Listings: Health Equity Issues

 

Making Disparities Disappear: Using Nationally Tested Tools for Community-Based Action
Today, while the overall quality of healthcare delivered in America is slowly improving, large segments of our population continue to experience disparities in the quality of healthcare they receive.  For example, as seen in the third annual National Healthcare Disparities Report recently published by our agency, Hispanics received poorer quality of care than whites in 53% of the most important measures; blacks received poorer quality of care in 43% of these measures; and American Indians and Alaska Natives received poorer quality of care in 38% of the key measures. (5/1/06, Medscape)

 

The Concentration of Negative Child Outcomes in Low-Income U.S. Neighborhoods

At the end of the 20th century, one in every five children in the United States lived in neighborhoods in which at least 20 percent of the population lived in poverty. Research has shown that children growing up in poor neighborhoods are at higher risk than children of affluent communities for health problems, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, and other social and economic problems. And researchers often make reference to a "critical threshold" of neighborhood poverty, a percentage beyond which negative outcomes for families and individuals increase exponentially. (3/06, Population Reference Bureau)

 

New Cross-National Comparisons of Health Systems: U.S. Ranks Lowest in Patient Surveys, Has Greatest Inequity for Lower-Income Patients

Despite spending more than twice as much per capita as other countries do on health care, the U.S. health care system ranks lower than several other countries in patients' perspectives of the safety, efficiency, equity, and patient-centeredness of health care. The U.S. scored well on effectiveness of care, especially preventive care. However, the U.S. also stands out for having wide and pervasive health care disparities based on income. (4/4/06, Commonwealth Fund)

 

Racial Differences in Trust in Health Care Providers

Background  Although trust in health care providers (physicians, nurses, and others) may be lower among African Americans compared with whites, limited information is available on factors that are associated with low trust in these populations. This study evaluated the association between trust in health care providers and prior health care experiences, structural characteristics of health care, and sociodemographic factors among African Americans and whites.(4/24/06, Archives of Internal Medicine)

 

America's 'Near Poor' Are Increasingly at Economic Risk, Experts Say
Americans on the lower rungs of the economic ladder have always been exposed to sudden ruin. But in recent years, with the soaring costs of housing and medical care and a decline in low-end wages and benefits, tens of millions are living on even shakier ground than before, according to studies of what some scholars call the "near poor." "There's strong evidence that over the past five years, record numbers of lower-income Americans find themselves in a more precarious economic position than at any time in recent memory," said Mark R. Rank, a sociologist at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of "One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All." (5/8/06, New York Times) 

 

Views on Hospital Community Benefit from a Recent Survey
Perhaps a reflection of the growing public demand for public accountability from not-for-profit hospitals, community-benefit programs are expanding and partnering with more community organizations, according to a recent survey by CHA and VHA.  Still, lack of financial and human resources as well as support from top leadership continues to stymie the fledgling programs, although they are getting more internal support than in past years. (5/8/06, Modern Healthcare)

 

Hospital Pricing Transparency
Hospitals are committed to sharing information that will help people make important decisions about their health care. Hospital prices can vary based on patient needs and the services they use; prices reflect the added costs of hospitals' public service role – like fire houses and police stations – serving the essential health care needs of a community 24 hours a day. The objectives of this position paper include: creating common definitions and language to describe pricing information for consumers; explaining how and why the price of care can vary, and encouraging the consideration of price as only one of several influencing health care decisions. (4-29-06, AHA Position Statement)

 

 

New Listings: Other Health Issues

 

The Oral Health of Children A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005

The Health Resources and Services Administration presents this chartbook highlighting the major findings of the National Survey of Children's Health on children's oral health. This survey, the first of its kind, presents national- and State-level information on the health and well-being of children and their use of health services, including oral health and dental care. The survey includes many positive findings about children's oral health.

 

Federal Monitoring System Underestimates Work-Related Injury And Illness, USA
(4/06, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine)

 

A Tree in the Storm: Philanthropy and the Health of the Public

"We believe now more than ever that the key lies in how all sectors of a community rally to overturn an unacceptable status quo and work together in protecting the safety of their own residents and improving the overall health of the entire community. It's called "connectedness" and it is at the heart of how public health must transform itself in the 21st century." (Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., RWJF president/CEO)

 

Florida Reports 

 

Uninsured children hospitalized for injury die at a higher rate than children with coverage

This USF Health newsletter article describes Childhood Injury in Florida, 2002: A Report on Hospitalized Care & Prevention Information.

 

Florida KidCare’s web site has these reports for download: Florida KidCare Statewide Enrollment Trend, Title XXI Enrollment and Major Program Changes.

 

Grading State Systems for Adults with Serious Mental Illness
A National Alliance on Mental Illness report grades each state's public mental health system for adults with serious mental illness, and assigns the nation an overall grade of D. The report grades states on 39 criteria in the areas of infrastructure, information access, services and recovery based on a survey of state mental health agencies last October and November. 

 

Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

 

New Medicare Part-D Survey Finds Many Satisfied, Difficulties for Others

A new survey of 896 seniors 65 and older commissioned by the Medicare Rx Education Network found that while some Medicare Part-D beneficiaries are encountering difficulties in signing up, most find the benefit works well and is worth the time and effort once they are enrolled. Those enrolled in stand-alone plans report more difficulties: 58% said it was not difficult to sign up for a plan; 38% said it was difficult. Among those not yet enrolled, 59% of those surveyed said that choosing a plan is difficult, and 47% of those actively looking said they did not have enough information to make up their minds. Results indicated that beneficiaries need one-on-one counseling to help them identify a plan, transportation to resources, and other assistance.

 

Snapshot: Health Care Costs 101, 2006 Edition
Now in its third edition, this presentation provides a concise, visual snapshot of national health care spending trends for use by journalists, policymakers, or anyone interested in health care cost issues. Based primarily on National Health Expenditures data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the slides show how spending is distributed by type of service and illustrate growth in spending categories such as hospital services and prescription drugs. For the first time, it also examines how contributions from households, business, and government are blended to finance both public and private health coverage. (March 2006, California HealthCare Foundation)

 

50% Medicaid Enrollment Increase Over Last Five Years

USA Today reports that Medicaid enrollment increases over the last five years were over 50%, higher than any other major government program. According to the findings, Medicaid enrollment increased 50.4% from 2000 to 2005 and spending reached $198 billion. (3/13/06, USA Today)

 

Updated Fact Sheet on Medicaid's Role for Dual Eligibles

Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated a fact sheet on Medicaid's role in providing care to dual eligibles, low-income Medicare beneficiaries, and the transitioning of their prescription drug coverage from Medicaid to the new Medicare drug benefit.

 

Medicaid Provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief summarizing the Medicaid policy changes of the recently signed budget reconciliation law and discussing the potential impact for states and beneficiaries.

 

Medicaid Spending and Enrollment

Updated data on Medicaid spending and enrollment from Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured based on analysis of CMS data for FY2002 are now available by state and region.  Total payments for all enrollment groups - children, adults, elderly, and individuals with disabilities - and payments per enrollee have been updated. 

 

The Transition of Dual Eligibles to Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage: State Actions During Implementation
This Kaiser Family Foundation publication is a survey of Medicaid officials assesses states' early experience in the transition of low-income seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligibles) to the Medicare Part D drug benefit.  The survey covers the types of problems observed by states during the transition of dual eligibles, state actions to correct problems and ensure temporary coverage, and specific data on costs incurred by states from these temporary programs.

 

Can States Stretch the Medicaid Dollar without Passing the Buck? Lessons from Utah

With the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states have gained increased flexibility over benefits and cost sharing for certain currently eligible Medicaid populations without having to obtain a waiver of Medicaid rules. New findings in the March/April edition of the journal Health Affairsprovide insights into the implications of limited benefits for the low-income population. (3/7/06, Kaiser Family Foundation)

Turning Medicaid Beneficiaries into Purchasers of Health Care: Critical Success Factors for Medicaid Consumer-Directed Health Purchasing This State Coverage Initiative Issue Brief finds state policymakers interested in applying the concepts of consumer-directed care to the Medicaid program. Various models are emerging. These reforms fundamentally would alter the role of the state, the state’s expectations of Medicaid beneficiaries, and the behavior of participants. Consumer-directed health purchasing programs would create new opportunities and risks for Medicaid beneficiaries.

 

Families USA Report on Medicaid Part-D

This latest report found that the vast majority of new Medicare Part D beneficiaries already had prescription drug coverage before the program started earlier this year and, in an effort to downplay this situation, the Administration has significantly lowered its own enrollment projections. You can read the full report or a press release announcing the report.

 

Taking a Checkup on the Nation's Health Care Tax Policy: A Prognosis

statement before the US Senate Committee on Finance summarizes the latest data on who has health insurance and who doesn't, outlines the various tax subsidies that exist for health insurance, examines how those subsidies affect the market for health insurance and employment, and briefly comments on some reform options. (3/8/06, Urban Institute)

 

Selected Findings on Seniors' Views of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

This poll finds that 45% of seniors say they have enrolled or plan to enroll in a drug plan, 29% say they do not intend to enroll in a drug plan and another 23% say they are uncertain. The majority of those who do not plan to enroll say they have another program or plan that helps pay for their prescriptions.Though more seniors are enrolling in a drug plan each month, the poll also shows that seniors have become less enthusiastic about the new Medicare drug benefit over the past six months.  Seniors are now almost twice as likely to say they view the benefit unfavorably (45%) as favorably (23%). That finding reflects a shift since August, when seniors’ positive views peaked and they were as likely to view the benefit favorably (32%) as unfavorably (32%). (2/17/2006, Kaiser Family Foundation)  

 

New State-By-State Data on Medicaid and SCHIP's Success in Reducing the Coverage Gap for Children

Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families reports the surprisingly positive trends in coverage for children, largely due to Medicaid (and to a lesser extent, its smaller companion program, SCHIP), that provide affordable health insurance coverage to children in low-income families. However, there is significant variation across the states.  Tables   Methodology

 

A special report on Medicaid, by the Pew Center on the States, seeks to analyze the real-world experiences of states, highlight examples of what works and what doesn't, and inform a crucial policy debate that will affect the lives of millions of Americans. Federal policy has encouraged enrollment of Medicare beneficiaries in health plans, the majority of which are for-profit plans.  

 

In Quality of care in for-profit and not-for-profit health plans enrolling Medicare beneficiaries, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School report that not-for-profit health plans provided significantly higher quality of care to enrollees than for-profit plans on four important clinical services; breast cancer screening, diabetic eye examination, beta-blocker medication after heart attack and follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness.

 

Mathematica gives good marks in its report to Congress on the State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIPs) that offer health care coverage to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and beyond. In almost all areas examined – outreach, enrollment and access to services – the programs are succeeding. 

 

Most studies of health coverage expansion policies focus on their potential national impact. Variations in the Impact of Health Coverage Expansion Proposals across States finds that federal strategies have greatly varied effects on different states with regard to economic characteristics, health care markets, and numbers of uninsured.

 

Two new reports provide the latest data on how much Medicaid spending is used to cover mandatory versus optional populations and services. Medicaid: An Overview of Spending on "Mandatory" vs. "Optional" Populations and Services, offers a brief summary of the data and a discussion. report, Medicaid Enrollment and Spending by "Mandatory" and "Optional" Eligibility and Benefit Categories” offers a more detailed examination.

 

Financing for the nation’s health care safety net is fragmented, and providers must knit together resources from many different funding sources to cover the costs of providing a broad range of services. Stresses to the Safety Net: The Public Hospital Perspective describes those sources of revenue, documenting that nearly 40 percent of all safety net revenues come from Medicaid.

 

Over the past few years, a number of states have implemented new or increased out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries in their Medicaid, SCHIP, or other public programs. Increasing Premiums and Cost Sharing in Medicaid and SCHIP: Recent State Experiences reviews the key findings from this activity, including the impact on enrollment in public coverage programs, on providers, and on access to care.

Federal Budget/Health Care

 

The House Budget Committee’s New Budget Plan: A Brief Analysis

This Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis finds the House Budget Committee's budget plan harsher than the Senate plan in several respects. The House plan would cut funding for domestic “discretionary” (or non-entitlement) programs by $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2007 and $169 billion over five years, relative to CBO's current-services baseline. The plan also would reduce entitlement programs by $5.1 billion over five years. The savings from these program reductions would not, however, be used for deficit reduction. They would instead be used to offset a portion of the cost of the budget plan’s $228 billion in tax cuts, as well as its defense spending increases. The net result would be significant further increases in the deficit. The plan would increase the deficit over the next five years by $256 billion above what deficits would be if current policy was left unchanged.

 

Administration’s Fiscal Year 2007 Budget is Likely still to Leave SCHIP Coverage for Low-Income Children in Jeopardy finds that the Administration’s budget proposal will fall short of fully funding states’ needs for SCHIP funding in 2007 — and could lead more than 200,000 children to go without SCHIP coverage next year.

 

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recent Budget Analysis reports:

Program Cuts in the President’s Budget: Cuts Grow Deeper Over Time and Will Hit States Hard

The President's budget proposes substantial cuts in funding for domestic discretionary programs over the next five years. The budget specifies the funding level for each program in 2007, but the levels for specific programs for years after 2007 — the years in which the overall level of reductions in domestic discretionary programs would grow substantially — are hard to discern from the budget documents the Administration released publicly. This analysis uses Administration materials not widely distributed — including a key Office of Management and Budget (OMB) computer run that apparently was released inadvertently — to show the multi-year impact of the proposed cuts on a number of important domestic discretionary programs. Summary or Full Report with program cuts by state.

  

The Skewed Benefits of Tax Cuts 2007-2016: If the Tax Cuts Are Extended, Millionaires Will Receive More than $600 Billion over the Next Decade

 

Administration Defense of Health Savings Accounts Rests on Misleading Use of Statistics

 

The Cost and Coverage Impact of the President’s Health Insurance Budget Proposals finds that the Administration's proposals to expand tax breaks for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) would cause a net increase in the number of uninsured Americans.

 

Analysis of Medicaid Provisions in the Bush Administration 2007 Budget explains how most of the provisions in the budget, which include both legislative proposals and regulatory changes that the Administration is planning to make without legislative action, will shift Medicaid costs to the state.  These funding cuts are on top of the significant federal Medicaid cuts enacted as part of the budget reconciliation bill signed into law.

 

The Administration’s Medicaid Proposals Would Shift Federal Costs to States finds that more than four-fifths of the Medicaid savings proposals in the Administration’s new budget would reduce federal Medicaid expenditures by shifting costs directly to the states. This likely would lead some states to scale back their Medicaid programs significantly by restricting eligibility and reducing coverage. 

 

New Congressional Budget Office Estimates Indicate Millions of Low-Income Beneficiaries Would Be Harmed by Medicaid Provisions in Budget Bill 

Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform, Budget

 

Massachusetts Health Reform
On April 4th, by overwhelming margins, the Massachusetts House and Senate voted to approve legislation that will extend health insurance coverage to hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents. At the same time, the legislation leaves many critical questions about the scope and cost of benefits and the obligations of individuals to purchase coverage unanswered. Already commentaries are flying— some are calling the bill a national model, others unconscionable and misguided. This Community Catalyst report looks at: What does the MA legislation really do? What are the factors that led to its passage? What are the important unknowns? What are the lessons for other states?

 

Articles Examine Community-Based Coverage Initiatives

Five articles published by Health Affairs highlight community approaches to providing care for the uninsured. (4/11/06)

 

A Brief Overview of the Major Flaws With Health Savings Accounts

This Center for Budget and Policy Priorities analysis finds that the Administration's proposals for substantial new HSA tax subsidies — and HSAs in general — suffer from several serious problems, including weakening the existing health insurance and increasing the number of uninsured; shifting risks to individuals, leaving those less healthy to face substantial costs with potential worse health outcomes; little potential to improve the health insurance system; increasing the federal budget deficit for decades to come; and providing the largest tax breaks to those who least need help paying for health coverage. (4/5/06)

 

Few U.S. Adults Are Willing to Pay Significantly Higher Premiums for Superior Care

A new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll shows that many U.S. adults believe it is fair to assess healthcare quality, but they are ambivalent and confused about whether or not payments to doctors and hospitals should be linked to quality metrics...only one in five (19%) adults think it would be fair for patients to pay more to be treated by medical groups or hospitals that have been shown to provide better care, and fewer adults (14%) say they themselves would be willing to pay a significantly higher premium for such care. (4/4/06, Harris Interactive Poll)

 

Medication Assistance Program Unveils Database of Free Clinics

Officials from the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national clearinghouse designed to connect patients with programs that help them pay for their drugs, said at a news conference in Greensboro Wednesday that it had launched a national database of free health clinics. The clinic database is designed to help people who call the organization or visit its Web site find local doctors. (4/3/06, The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area)

 

Most ER Patients Are Insured, Study Says

The uninsured, long blamed for crowding in the emergency room, account for 15% of visits.

Challenging a common notion that uninsured patients are clogging hospital emergency rooms, a new study has found that the vast majority of adults who turn up there frequently have health insurance and regular doctors... Emergency visits increased 26% between 1993 and 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  "It is the only door that is open 24 hours," said Brian Johnston, the medical director of the emergency department at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights. (3/29/06, Los Angeles Times)

 

The Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2000-2003: Estimates for the US Population under Age 65
When estimating the size of the uninsured population, it is important to consider the distinction between those uninsured for short periods of time and those who are uninsured for several years. (March 2006, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

 

Congress's Policy Priorities: Assessing Health Care Experts' Views

Expanding coverage of the uninsured should be Congress' top health policy priority, says a majority of respondents to the Fund's latest Health Care Opinion Leaders survey. Leaders also say that a good way to expand coverage is to let individuals and small businesses buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or a similar option. (3/24/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

How States Are Cutting Pharmacy Costs without Limiting Access

Many states believe that clinical evidence about drug effectiveness can be used to curtail pharmacy costs, while also ensuring that beneficiaries have access to their medications. A new Fund issue brief explains how six states are doing it. (3/23/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey: Assessing Congressional Policy Priorities

Expanding coverage to the uninsured should be Congress's top health care policy priority for the next five years, say a majority of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund Opinion Leaders survey--just as they said a year ago when asked about health care policy priorities. Leaders also agreed, once again, that one of the best ways to expand coverage to the uninsured is to allow individuals and small businesses to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or a similar federal group option. [Jan-Feb 2006, Harris Interactive Survey)

 

US Physician Charity Care Continues Decade-Long Decline

The proportion of US physicians providing charity care dropped 8 percentage points in the last decade, falling to 68 percent of physicians in 2004-05 from 76 percent in 1996-97, according to a national study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The drop in physician charity care occurred as the number of uninsured Americans grew to 45.5 million in 2004, signaling growing stress on the health care safety net. (3/23/06, Center for Health System Change)

 

Advocacy group to post hospitals' pricing policies for the uninsured

Consejo de Latinos Unidos (Council of United Latinos) announced plans to establish a Web site where it will post hospitals' pricing policies for the uninsured and monitor whether hospitals are complying with and informing uninsured patients about their discount and pricing policies. Consejo has close ties to Archie Lamb, a class-action trial lawyer who along with Richard Scruggs has sued hundreds of hospitals across the country challenging hospitals' tax-exempt status and alleging unfair billing and collection practices. Nearly all of the federal lawsuits have been dismissed or withdrawn. (3/16/06, American Hospital Association NewsNow)

 

Dimensions of the Local Health Care Environment and Use of Care by Uninsured Children in Rural and Urban Areas  Despite concerted policy efforts, a sizeable percentage of children lack health insurance coverage. This article examines the impact of the health care safety net and health care market structure on the use of health care by uninsured children [and concludes that U]ninsured children had low levels of utilization over a range of different health care provider types and settings. (3/06, Pediatrics) 

 

Health and Well-Being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005

The National Survey of Children's Health, conducted (by the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC) for the first time in 2003, addresses multiple state and national aspects of child health as well as aspects of the family and the neighborhood that can affect children's health. 

 

Health Care Reform: 2006 Perspectives
The Commonwealth Fund-supported research provides perspective on approaches to addressing the issues of health care costs, quality and coverage, and details promising innovations to help the U.S. move toward a truly high-performance health care system. 

 

State of the States: Finding Their Own Way on Health Coverage, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program that works with states to expand health insurance coverage, today issued its latest annual "State of the States" report, summarizing strategies states are implementing or considering to expand health coverage.

  

Rising Out-of-Pocket Spending for Medical Care: A Growing Strain on Family Budgets

Since the late 1990s, accelerated growth in health care spending has translated into increased burdens on family budgets. In 2001–02, an average of 13 million families per year had direct out-of-pocket (OOP) costs equal to or exceeding 10 percent of family income. When premium costs are added into the equation, even more families are devoting a substantial share of resources to health care expenses. From the Commonwealth Fund. 

 

Health Coverage for Aging Baby Boomers

Rising out-of-pocket health care costs and sluggish wage growth threatens workers' ability to save for retirement. This is particularly true for adults ages 50 to 64, or "baby boomers," whose per capita health care expenditures are more than twice those of younger adults. This January 2006 published analysis of The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Older Adults found: older adults have high rates of chronic health conditions; many have unstable insurance coverage; those who have low income, individual coverage, or no insurance spend a substantial share of their income on coverage and health care and have reduced access to care.

 

A recent Urban Institute report, Lowering Financial Burdens and Increasing Health Insurance Coverage for Those with High Medical Costs, reviews evidence that the health care system is doing a poor job of ensuring care for those who most need it and offers options for subsidizing health care coverage for high-cost, high-risk populations. 

 

Young adults are one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. They often lose coverage under their parents' policies at age 19 or when they graduate from high school or college. The updated Rite of Passage: Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help suggests several policy changes that could extend coverage to uninsured young adults.

 

Health Equity Issues

 

Better Health Care Doesn't Erase Racial Gap
Efforts to improve health care quality can help reduce some - but not all - of the inequalities in medical care provided to black patients compared with whites, a new study shows. Four years after launching a program to improve the quality of diabetes care, a large Boston-based physician group found that racial disparities in cholesterol screening were reduced, but blacks remained less likely than whites to be taking statins to get their LDL ("bad") cholesterol down, or to have their blood sugar under long-term control. (4/7/06, Reuters)

 

US Ranks Poorly on Many Measures in Cross-National Patient Surveys

This report, based on two cross-national surveys, finds that the U.S. health care system scores well on effectiveness from a patient perspective but is viewed poorly on many other measures, including safety and equity. (4/4/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

Lower Income Linked with Poorer Care Experiences

An analysis of patient survey data by the Fund finds that U.S. adults with below-average income fare worse than those with above-average income on 21 of 30 measures of primary care access, coordination, and doctor–patient relationships. (4/4/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

Health Disparities and Health Equity: Concepts and Measurement

There is little consensus about the meaning of the terms "health disparities," "health inequalities," or "health equity." The definitions can have important practical consequences, determining the measurements that are monitored by governments and international agencies and the activities that will be supported by resources earmarked to address health disparities/inequalities or health equity. This paper aims to clarify the concepts of health disparities/inequalities (used interchangeably here) and health equity, focusing on the implications of different definitions for measurement and hence for accountability. (April 2006, Annual Review of Public Health)

 

New Resources on Coverage, Quality, and Efficiency

The Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System has released a new series of briefs on key topics in health policy, such as health insurance coverage, health care costs and spending, and the drive for a higher-performing health system. (3/28/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

Prescription Monitoring May Increase Racial Gap in Access to Care

A program designed to reduce inappropriate benzodiazepine prescribing had the unintended consequence of increasing racial disparities in access to care, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine for March 13th. "This is the first well-controlled study to show that health policies designed to reduce drug costs and abuse can increase racial disparities in access to effective care for those with chronic illnesses, like schizophrenia," lead author Dr. Sallie-Anne Pearson, from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, said in a statement. (3/13/06, Reuters)

 

Quantitative Techniques for Health Equity Analysis: Technical Notes

Have gaps in health outcomes between the poor and better off grown? Are they larger in one country than another? Are health sector subsidies more equally distributed in some countries than others? Is health care utilization equitably distributed in the sense that people in equal need receive similar amounts of health care irrespective of their income? Are health care payments more progressive in one health care financing system than another? What are catastrophic payments? How can they be measured? How far do health care payments impoverish households?  (2006, The World Bank)  

 

Jobs Lacking Coverage Biggest Reason for Immigrants' Low Insured Rates, in Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured This research highlight examines a study "Immigrants and Employer-Provided Health Insurance," finding immigrants almost three times more likely to be uninsured than native-born U.S. citizens.  The primary reason for the difference is that more immigrants work for employers that do not offer health insurance. The research highlight includes a Q&A "Research Highlight: Jobs Lacking Coverage Biggest Reason for Immigrants' Low Insured Rates." (March 2006)

 

Examining the Health Disparities Research Plan of the National Institutes of Health: Unfinished Business

The range of diseases and conditions for which there are differences spans virtually all biomedical disciplines. There are complex, interrelated social, economic, behavioral, health care and other environmental aspects - and the differences, their features, and the roles of contributing factors vary among affected populations and subpopulations.  The review committee sees the opportunity and need for NIH to focus even more on health disparities as a research entity and move knowledge and understanding forward as no other agency or setting can. (Board on Health Sciences Policy 2006 US National Academies of Sciences)

 

Latino Health Care Is Being Left Behind

The recent National Healthcare Quality Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that overall quality of care for Americans improved at a rate of 2.8 percent. It sounds small, but that's actually quite impressive for a nationwide improvement. For Latinos, however, quality of care worsened.  (3/21/06, San Francisco Chronicle)

 

Latino Doctors Partner with HHS to Tackle Health Disparities

To tackle health disparities and soaring obesity and diabetes rates among Latinos, the National Hispanic Medical Association is partnering on an initiative with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (OMH) to develop leadership training, education and outreach programs to improve Hispanic health. (3/20/06, Hispanic PR Wire)

 

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Community-Based Case Management in Insuring Uninsured Latino Children 

Uninsured children were assigned randomly to an intervention group with trained case managers or a control group that received traditional Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) outreach and enrollment. Case managers provided information on program eligibility, helped families complete insurance applications, acted as a family liaison with Medicaid/SCHIP, and assisted in maintaining coverage.  Intervention group children were significantly more likely to obtain health insurance and had 8 times the adjusted odds of obtaining insurance. (12/05, Pediatrics)

 

Who Is at Greatest Risk for Receiving Poor-Quality Health Care?

American adults frequently do not receive recommended health care. The extent to which the quality of health care varies among sociodemographic groups is unknown. The study used data from medical records and telephone interviews of a random sample of people living in 12 communities to assess the quality of care received by those who had made at least one visit to a health care provider during the previous two years. The differences among sociodemographic subgroups in the observed quality of health care are small in comparison with the gap for each subgroup between observed and desirable quality of health care. (3/16/06, New England Journal of Medicine)

 

New England Journal of Medicine Faces Challenge from Health Experts

Researchers, advocates and lawmakers question study that minimizes race-based health disparities (3/16/06, Applied Research Center) 

 

Health Status of Children in Immigrant Families

Children who are born in the United States to noncitizen parents, foreign-born children with noncitizen parents, and foreign-born children who are naturalized citizens are all likely to have limited access to health insurance and health care. (April 2006, American Journal of Public Health)

 

Burden of Disease Associated with Being African-American in the United States and the Contribution of Socio-Economic Status

The burden of disease associated with being African-American in the US, and the contribution of socio-economic status (SES) to that burden have not been quantified. The study found SES differences between African-Americans and whites appeared to explain all the Health Related Quality of Life disparity but only half the mortality disparity. Better understanding of the disparate effects of SES may inform interventions to address health disparities adversely affecting African-Americans. (May 2006, Social Science & Medicine)

 

Methods for Measuring Cancer Disparities: A Review Using Data Relevant to Healthy People 2010 Cancer-Related Objectives

Healthy People 2010 has two overarching goals: to increase the span of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities across the categories of gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, and sexual orientation. This report raises some conceptual issues and reviews different methodological approaches germane to measuring progress toward the goal of eliminating cancer-related health disparities.

 

Reaching an Immigrant Population

Saint Francis Medical Center listened to its Latin American immigrant community and answered with a number of innovative programs to improve communication, services and wellness. (March 2006, Hospitals & Health Care Networks)

 

Social Determinants of Health and Nursing: A Summary of the Issues
It is well-established that poorer people have substantially shorter life expectancies and This Canadian civil service study compared the health status of individuals over time with their position in a well-defined job hierarchy. Those lower in the hierarchy experienced three times the risk of death from heart disease, stroke, cancer, gastrointestinal disease, accident and suicide compared with those at the top of the hierarchy.

Stretching the Safety Net to Serve Undocumented Immigrants
A small but increasing proportion of immigrants to the United States is undocumented. This Health System Change Issue Brief found that because most undocumented immigrants lack health insurance, they primarily rely on safety net providers for care. Communities with more developed safety nets and historically large numbers of immigrants appear more adept at caring for both legal and undocumented immigrants. 

The 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) are now available on AHRQ's Web Site. The 2005 NHQR is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. The 2005 NHDR tracks disparities in both quality of and access to health care in the United States for both the general population and for congressionally designated priority populations.

Few Hospitals Use Patients' Race, Ethnicity and Language Data to Improve Quality of Care
Health care stakeholders urge all U.S. hospitals to use patient data to improve the quality and consistency of care their patients receive.  The study was conducted by the National Public Health and Hospital Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.   

 

Other Health Issues

 

Latest Estimates on US Obesity and Overweight

The prevalence of obesity in adults doubled and the prevalence of overweight in children and adolescents tripled in the United States between 1980 and 2002, the National Center for Health Statistics reported in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (April 2006)

 

States in Action: A Quarterly Look at Innovations in Health Policy

A profile of Washington State's approach to drug purchasing, snapshots of coverage expansion efforts in Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Maryland, and more. Plus: how the federal Deficit Reduction Act will affect Medicaid programs and beneficiaries and the nation's first-ever "individual mandate" legislation. (3/30/06, Commonwealth Fund)  

 

Creating a Culture of Patient Safety

Improvements in patient safety hinge as much on transforming the culture of health care organizations as on specific changes in health care delivery. A new Fund-supported study highlights some promising examples from the field. (3/27/06, Commonwealth Fund) 

 

Community Connections of American Hospital Association

The American Hospital Association's Community Connections initiative is working to document the ways that hospitals' work extends beyond the hospital walls.  From free clinics to job training to immunizations, hospitals are engaged in numerous activities that benefit community health and well being.  As a resource for hospital leaders, AHA is collecting and sharing examples of how hospitals are making America healthier.

 

Reflections on a Decade of Tracking Health System Change

Lots of change; little progress on slowing cost growth or improving care quality and access

In the commentary, Ginsburg and coauthor Cara S. Lesser, HSC director of site visits, point out that in the course of all the "mergers and break-ups and alphabet soup of new types of organizations, management strategies and payment arrangements...In many respects, we're no better off than we were a decade ago." (3/15/06, Center for Studying Health System Change)

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 STATE HEALTH EVENTS AND NOTICES

May 12, 2006 

 
CENTRAL FLORIDA

 

Training of Trainers for Health Care Providers on Pesticide Poisoning

May 16-17  10 am-4 pm   Apopka, St. Francis Church

This event will train trainers for healthcare providers in the recognition, treatment and prevention of pesticide poisoning. CMEs and CEUs will be provided.  Sponsored by Farmworker Association of Florida and Farmworker Health and Safety Institute. For more info, contact 321/322-8159 or hollybaker23@aol.com. 

 

Promotores de Salud: Volunteer's Patient Navigator Program Training

June 9-11  8:30 am-4:30 pm  HHI, 210 Live Oak Blvd, Casselberry

Hispanic Health Initiatives, Inc. (HHI) is starting a volunteer's patient navigator program (Promotores de Salud) to help cancer and diabetes patients navigate the health and social services system in Central Florida (Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia). Trainees must commit to helping the community. CBOs and Churches are encouraged to share in this training so their communities will benefit from the promotores services. This is a proven approach to help uninsured, low-income wage earners address some of their health needs and to empower them to access the health care and social services available to them in their communities. For many, outreach is not enough. The June class is the first of three training workshops. Contact HHI2001@aol.com or call 407/339-2001 or 866/377-2583.

 

 

WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

Beyond Survival: Emerging Best Practices in the Field of Trauma and Torture Treatment
June 2    9:00 am-4:00 pm   Tampa, Wyndham Westshore Hotel
A national panel of experts will present sessions. Up to 4 CEU's Provided For All Mental Health Professionals including psychologists, LCSW's & MFT's. Lunch included. Registration required.  Call 727/450-7273 or 813/987-6700 to register.

 

16th Annual Social Marketing in Public Health Conference  

June 21-24    Clearwater Beach

University of South Florida College of Public Health and Academy for Educational Development are co-sponsoring this event. The Social Marketing in Public Health field school will offer three courses - Health Message Design, Focus Groups and Public Sector and Non-profit Marketing – immediately before and after the conference. For more info click here.  

 

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

 

Events

 

Y-ME Mother's Day Miami Walk to Empower 
May 14  7:30 am Check-in; 9:00 am Walk 

David Kennedy Park, Coconut Grove
Sponsored by Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization
Register at www.y-me.org/miami  For more info, email lstoch@y-me.org

 

¿Es conveniente para usted tener su propio negocio?

(Everything you always wanted to know about hospice but were afraid to ask)
Mayo 15  6:00 pm
Biblioteca Principal del Condado de Palm Beach, 3650 Summit Blvd, WPB

Graris. 561/233-2600

 

Partner Organizations Wanted for Hip Hop 4 Health Fair

May 20   noon to 3:00 pm   central location in Miami-Dade County

Hip Hop 4 Health is an outreach effort to help middle school kids get health screenings and information to lead healthier lives. This year’s last health fair will feature the hip hop competition finalists from all twelve participating middle schools, plus extensive entertainment including bounce houses, rock climbing wall, DJ and food, as well as extensive health and community services. Social service and healthcare agencies are invited to participate in these fairs at no cost. Contact Hilda Mitrani at hildamitrani@comcast.net or 305/992-3475.

 

Hispanics: Strengths, Needs, Hopes, Solutions: Conference  

May 20  8:00 am-5:00 pm  FAU Davie Campus Liberal Arts Bldg.

This Hispanic & American Social and Human Service Professionals (HASHSP) conference offers updates on the needs of individuals, families, and the Hispanic/Latino community in general.  It will provide an opportunity for professionals to gain a greater awareness, cultural sensitivity, skill and knowledge base to work more effectively with, and for, their Hispanic/Latino clients or patients.  Workshops many resources will include:  Alarming Health Conditions Affecting Latinos/ Hispanics; Machismo and Domestic Violence; Human Trafficking; Addictions and Substance Abuse Issues; Hispanics and Alzheimer’s disease; Memory Disorders, Immigration and Refugee Updates; Medicare Part D; Therapeutic Tools & Interventions and more. Registration (categories $25-$80) includes CEUs, materials, meals and snacks. For more info, call 954/920-5020.  

 

Hispanics: Strengths, Needs, Hopes, Solutions: Health Fair

May 21  9:00 am-5:00 pm  FAU Davie Campus Liberal Arts Bldg.

This Hispanic & American Social and Human Service Professionals (HASHSP) event is directed toward Hispanic/Latino consumers, their families, caregivers and providers of services.  Many free health, behavioral health and other screenings, lectures, demonstrations, literature and other resources will be provided. Booths available for vendors or exhibitors: call 954/966-6765 for more vendor info. For more information about the event, call 954/920-5020.

 

Annual Sistaah Talk Pretty Hat Tea

May 21  3:00–7:00 pm Radisson Hotel, 1601 Biscayne Blvd. Miami

An afternoon of women’s health education empowerment topics, including how to do breast self-exams, and “Perceptions of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer in at-risk women” by Dr. Martha Martinez. Guest authors. Donation $12. For pre-event ticket purchase, vendor info and reservations, call 305/653-4982 or 305/835-7346 or click here for more info. All proceeds benefit breast cancer education programs and support groups.

 

Cocktails & Conversations

May 24  7:00 pm  Private Home in Boca Raton

May’s Monthly Social Organized by Planned Parenthood Voice for Choice Action Fund of South Palm Beach & Broward Counties, Inc. invites you to learn how you can protect reproductive rights in your community. For more info or to rsvp, click here or call 561/394-3540 ext. 335.

 

Southeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative Meeting

August 3  10:00 am-3:00 pm

Miami-Dade County Health Dept, 9334 NW 17 St., Miami
Most of the meeting will be devoted to strategic planning. Click here to request more info.

 

Conference on Intervention

October 2-4  The Breakers Palm Beach Hotel

Click here for more information on this and four other events scheduled for 2006.

 

The Alliance for Human Services 4th Annual Institute hosts its 4th Annual Institute
October 27   Miami Beach Convention Center

Over 400 individuals (business leaders, social service providers, not-for-profit agencies, faith-based organizations, human service consumers) will gather to discuss and receive valuable information and innovative solutions on social service issues.  The Alliance is dedicated to improving quality of life for Miami-Dade County residents through partnerships, coordination of resources, and community involvement. For more information, call 305/646-7274 or write ggrey@alliance4hs.org.

 

Notices

 

Florida Cancer Clinical Trials Cooperative, Inc. (FCCTC) is a public resource that provides information about cancer clinical trials to Florida residents.  They have a web-based and a phone-based Clinical Trial Matching Service that provides users with an opportunity to search for cancer clinical trials for which they might be eligible. The program allows people to print (or be mailed) information about potential trials to discuss with their physicians. The Florida Dialogue on Cancer established the FCCTC in 2004 and received a federal grant to create a clinical trials information system in Florida. Their data base includes current information about clinical trials at hospitals and research facilities throughout the state, including pediatric cancer trials. Information is available in English and Spanish. Go to http://www.floridacancertrials.com or call 1/800-584-9976

 

New Healthy Start Coalition Of Miami-Dade Website LAUNCHED! The website at www.hscmd.org will increase community awareness about the Healthy Start Coalition’s activities and accomplishments, and serve the women, infants and families of Miami-Dade County.

 

A Partnership to Reduce Cancer Mortality Among African Americans

100 Black Men of South Florida, Inc. and Aventura Hospital and Medical Center announced this month their partnership to address the health disparities among the African American community as it relates to cancer, heart disease and diabetes. For more information on this and other community outreach programs, please contact 305/682-7135 or Debra.Eddington@hcahealthcare.com

 

STATEWIDE

  

In Our Best Interest: Governor's Conference on Women's Health

May 18-19   Orlando, Sheraton World 

For more information on this year's state-mandated conference of the interagency Women's Health Strategy Committee, click here or write Shara_Senior@doh.state.fl.us

 

Strengthening Self Sufficiency for Florida’s Families

May 23-24  Jacksonville Hyatt Regency

The Department of Health and Human Services is hosting this roundtable. Please call the hotel directly (904-588-1234). for reservations.

 

18th Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS

May 25-28    Miami, The InterContinental
Sponsored by Boston College Graduate College of Social Work, this year's conference theme is "HIV/AIDS at Year 25: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work."  Over 600 AIDS-care social workers are expected and over 120 conference sessions For more information, call 617/552-4038 or write lynchv@bc.edu. Click here for the conference brochure.

 

Sharing the Vision of a Tobacco-Free Florida
June 1  9:30 am - 3:30 pm  The Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport Hotel

Sponsored by Florida Leadership Council for Tobacco Control and the Florida Dept. of Health, Tobacco Prevention and Control for local, state and national organizations and grassroots advocates. Click here to register online.

 

5th Annual Medicaid Research Conference: Patient Empowerment and Health Literacy

June 1-2   Tallahassee, Doubletree Hotel

Hosted by Florida Center for Medicaid and the Uninsured and AHCA, this year's conference will explore patient empowerment and health literacy, principles of reform driving Florida's Research and Demonstration Waiver. Panels will focus on three primary areas of discussion: Consumers, Communication, and Choice Counseling; Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, Cultural Competencies; and the Role and Application of Technology in Health Literacy. Free of charge. Click here for more info or to register online.

2006 National Conference on Latinos and AIDS
July 24-25   Wyndham Miami Beach Resort
Sponsored by Minority Healthcare Communications, Inc., this event will update the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of health providers who care for patients with HIV/AIDS. It is also designed for healthcare media, federal and state legislators, AIDS service organization officers, social workers, pharmacists, nurses, peer counselors, church leadership and corrections healthcare personnel. It will cover the epidemiology of HIV in the US, current guidelines and new clinical modalities for HIV management, current research encompassing drug abuse and its connection to the HIV epidemic, social and psychiatric concerns of the HIV-infected patient, policy initiatives, trends and political issues. CME credits available. Click here for more information.

Florida Conference on Aging 2006

August 14-17    Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina.  For more information, click here. 

2006 United States Conference on AIDS
Sept. 21-25   Hollywood Westin Diplomat
National Minority AIDS Council presents the largest AIDS-related gathering in the US, for over 4,000 case managers, physicians, public health workers and advocates to build national support networks, exchange the latest information and learn cutting-edge tools to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
Click here for registration and more information including scholarships access.

2006 Baker Act Training The University of South Florida Department of Mental Health Law and Policy  presents a series of one-day workshops which will provide an overview for a wide variety of persons who need to be familiar with the Baker Act and its procedures. Workshops are scheduled through May, 2006 in select cities across the state. Click here to see a full listing of the events and register online.  

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 NATIONAL EVENTS AND NOTICES

May 12, 2006 

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

 

The National Obesity Action Forum

June 5-6  Bethesda, MD

This meeting aims to address the problem of overweight and obesity in our nation, bringing together federal, state, and local public health officials; leaders of community organizations and advocacy groups; nutrition and physical fitness experts; health care providers; school and food industry reps; and interested consumers. Click here for more information.

 

Empowering Partners for Effective Integration: Charting a New Generation of Cancer Control Partnerships
July 12-13   Washington, DC

This is the 2006 CDC Cancer Partners Summit. Click here for more information.

 

6th Annual Summer Evaluation Institute

June 12-14  Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Co-sponsored by CDC and AEA with support from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD), the Institute welcomes all CDC, state, local, and community staff who do or use program evaluation. This year's Institute features three days of intensive, small-group sessions. Go to the web site for a complete agenda, course selection, lodging information, and to register and pay on-line. For further help, contact heidi@eval.org or 888/232-2275. For questions on Institute content, write TChapel@cdc.gov.

Disparities in Health in America:  Working Toward Social Justice
June 24-30   Houston

This workshop is intended to provide a comprehensive approach to the issue of health disparities, so attendees will gain a broad base of knowledge to address disparities with a biopsychosocial approach. It will be of value to physicians, nurses, social workers, health educators, and other healthcare professionals, and students, as well as active members of the community and community organizations.  Lectures, Panel Discussions, and Question-and-Answer Sessions. Continuing ed credits in many fields. Click here for more info.

 

National Leadership and Education Conference: For your patients ... For your community

June 28-29   Chicago

Cultural competency, mentoring, recruitment and retention, diversity among leadership and hospital trustees ... hospital and health system leaders grapple with these issues every day and ask how they can ensure that their health care workforce – particularly their health care managers – reflect the demographics of the communities they serve.  The theme exemplifies the mission of hospitals throughout the country  to provide culturally competent care for every patient who walks through their doors. Click here for more information.

 

Health as a Human Right: Health Education, Equality and Social Justice for All

November 2-4  Boston

Society for Public Health Education’s 57th Annual Meeting will examine the impact of reciprocal influences of health and human rights, including the impact public health programs and policies have on human rights and health disparities, the consequences human rights violations have on health, the importance of health in realizing human rights, and the ways in which health educators can ensure that human rights are integrated into public health strategies to eliminate disparities. Click here for more information.

 

Making Methods and Practice Matter for Women, Children and Families

December 6–8    Atlanta

Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology (MCH EPI) conference organizers invite you to join MCH professionals in sharing experiences, enhancing knowledge, and generating new ideas for improved MCH data use and informed policymaking. Click here for details. 

AUDIO CONFERENCES AND WEBCASTS   

Dental Care Access and Prevention Strategies

May 18  ACHI audio conference

 

Operation Access: Providing Donated Outpatient Surgery to Uninsured People

June 15  ACHI audio conference

 

YMCAs and Hospitals: Successful Collaborations for Healthier Communities

July 20   ACHI audio conference

 

Policies and Procedures to Strengthen Community Benefit Accountability

Sept. 21  ACHI audio conference  


NOTICES

 

Innovation in Multi-Cultural Health Care Award Application
Deadline: May 18

Awards Events: Sept. 13 in Los Angeles, Sept. 14 in DC

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) announces a call forapplications to publicly recognize health plans that have developed,designed or implemented innovative practices to improve the provision ofculturally and linguistically appropriate services and reduce health caredisparities. All health plans including managed care organizations (MCOs) and preferredprovider organizations (PPOs) are encouraged to submit applications for consideration. For more information on award and events, click here.


CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES

National Women's Health Week: May 14 - 20

For materials: 202/690-7651  4woman@ps.net  www.womenshealth.gov

Take the Woman Challenge, an 8-week challenge to increase physical activity beginning May 14, Mother's Day. Sign up here and receive a free pedometer.

  

Better Hearing and Speech Month: May 

For materials, click here. Also, get information about Medicare’s coverage of speech, language, hearing and related disorders, along with a directory of federal, state and local assistance programs to help pay for what Medicare doesn’t cover. (Note: Medicare does not cover hearing aids or the examinations for prescribing or fitting hearing aids, except for implants to treat severe hearing loss in some cases.)

 

Mental Health Month: May

For materials: 800/969-6642  www.nmha.org

 

National High Blood Pressure Education Month: May

For materials: 301/592-8573   nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov  hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/nhbpep_kit

 

Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month: May

For materials: 888/462-DERM  mediarelations@aad.org  www.aad.org 

 

Healthy Vision Month: May

For materials:   301/496-5248 hvm@nei.nih.gov  www.healthyvision2010.org/hvm/ 

 

National Men's Health Week: June 12 - 18

For materials: 202/543-MHN-1 x101  info@menshealthweek.org  www.menshealthweek.org 

 

2006 March of Dimes WalkAmerica: June 29 - 30

For materials: 888/M-O-DIMES   800/525-WALK   walkamerica@modimes.org  www.walkamerica.org 

 

UV Safety Month: July
American Academy of Opthalmology
415/447-0213   eyemd@aao.org    www.aao.org

 

World Breastfeeding Week:  August 1-7
Materials available: World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action and La Leche League International
847/519-7730 x286   MHurt@llli.org   www.lalecheleague.org

 

Children's Eye Health and Safety Month: August
Materials available: Prevent Blindness America
800/331-2020    info@preventblindness.org   www.preventblindness.org

 

Cataract Awareness Month: August
Materials available: American Academy of Ophthalmology
415/447-0213    eyemd@aao.org   www.aao.org

 

National Immunization Awareness Month: August
Materials available: National Partnership for Immunization
703/836-6110    npi@hmhb.org   www.partnersforimmunization.org

 

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